Breakfast!

Yo-yo, as you can see, just couldn't wait. I must have a thing about food lately; it seems that has been a large part of my recent posts! Hopefully you all aren't tired of it yet, as here is another one!

As any bird can tell you, breakfast is a very important meal. In fact, any bird will tell you any meal is a very important meal, including those that aren't usually practiced, such as after-lunch-before-mid-afternoon-snack. Or Winnie the Pooh's favorite elevenses. Back to the original subject, though, breakfast here varies, but often I share it with the parrots. Here is a play-by-play of a recent (very popular) breakfast. As usual, it is all organic, with some of the veggies coming from a local farm, some being frozen.

First, I heated up my pan and added half a teaspoon or so of olive oil.

Once it was hot, I added chopped yellow zucchini.

Once the zucchini had gotten pretty soft, but not too done, I added
some frozen broccoli.

Once the broccoli was nearly done, I added the pre-cooked
(but cold) garbanzo beans.

And last but not least, when it was all cooked, I added several stalks of chopped
celery, stirred that in, and served. I always add the celery last because I
love the texture difference it adds to leave it uncooked and fresh.

Before giving the birds their portion, I added a few healthy topping such as alfalfa powder and flax oil. Sorry, no pics of the tails up moment, but I assure you, there was a verrrry long one!

Donate to your favorite 501(c)(3)!

Many of you, such as those on the Busy Beaks email list, will already know this, but I thought I would post it here as well. From now through November 30, if you have your order drop shipped to a certified 501(c)(3) avian rescue, Busy Beaks will match your order up to $100! And if you aren't sure what they want, you can give them a gift certificate, which Busy Beaks will double up to $100 dollars when they redeem it. Not bad, right? And rescues really need all the help they can get. I have a very very few in my sidebar, but there are many more; find one you like, whether near you or not, and why not give them a present this year, too? Many have wish lists on their site, and I am sure they would not mind your contacting them to ask what they would like, as well. I think wood toys (too many to link to!), though, are universally appreciated! I imagine shredders and preeners, such as the starbird fuzzy wuzzy, are also loved; most rescues have many pluckers, and those kinds of toys can help distract them from their feather destruction.

Link to newsletter
Busy Beaks Bird Toys

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

We certainly did. As you can see, I carved my pumpkin as a ghostly attack parrot!

As it was a very nice day, some of the parrots also came outside with me, and although they weren't interested in eating much with all to see outside, Claudia couldn't resist some raw pumpkin. I always save the "innards" from my pumpkin carving. The seeds I toast for both me and the birds to enjoy, and I used some of the pumpkin scrapings and seed membrane to make a lovely pudding bread, which was extremely tasty, and shared (and approved) by all. The rest of the pumpkin I am drying for later use.

I rinse the seeds and try to pull of any remaining bits of the pumpkin membrane. I then dry them well, mix them with a teensy bit (1/2 teaspoon or less) of olive oil. I don't add any salt until after they have toasted and I have separated out the birds portion.

The pudding bread I made by mixing some of the pumpkin with sundry other items, such as applesauce, 100% fruit jam (apricot), freeze dried pineapple, and rice and coconut flour.I topped it with some sunflowers seeds, as you can see, as much for me as for the birds. I think it turned out quite well! I just love anything made with winter squash.

(Cook)Book Review

I must admit, I love love love reading cookbooks. I think it must be an inherited trait from my grandmother. Oddly enough, I also hate following recipes, either for baking or cooking, but there ya go. Both of these details apply to parrot food as well, although parrot cookbooks are few and far between. In fact, I only know of 2 cookbooks, and just a handful more that include a recipe or two among other information. One of those cookbooks I consider fairly useless, the other, which came out last December, I consider simply amazing.

I had been waiting with great anticipation once I heard Phoenix Landing was publishing a cookbook, Nourish to Flourish, and I was not disappointed. It is a lovely size, and spiral bound in wipe-able pages, which is very important both for a cookbook and for something that parrots might (will) be around. It is wonderfully organized into sections, with great information in the front, followed by veggie, fruit, grain, legume and protein sections. It has not just great information, but also great and very healthy recipes, and a wide variety of them at that. Truly something for everyone, and I will most definitely be recommending this book for anyone in the future that adopts a bird from me, or in fact anyone that doesn't, as well.

Despite my overall raves about the book, I would be quite disappointed in myself if I did not mention a few facts I find confusing or misleading.

-One, couscous is treated a a grain in the book. While that in itself is not bad, as it is in fact a grain product, people need to realize that couscous is simply a type of noodle. It is often times made with a different kind of wheat, but if you are buying standard couscous in the store, it is the same as buying standard white noodles. However, don't despair quite yet, couscous lovers! Just as there are a healthy types of noodles, there are healthy types of couscous. I have found whole wheat couscous to be readily available, though I myself, due to Chester's wheat allergy (and my own gluten issues), stick with organic brown rice couscous made by Lundberg Farms.

-Two, some fish is mentioned as being healthy as an occasional treat for parrots. Again, that in itself is not bad. However, one of the fish mentioned is tuna. Never, ever, ever, ever feed your parrot tuna. Ever. First of all, some types of tuna are sorely over fished, but ignoring that, tuna is very high in mercury. In fact, almost any large ocean (or river or lake or pond or...) fish is high in mercury, as such contaminants are always concentrated the higher up the food chain you go, as the larger fish have absorbed all the contaminants from the smaller fish they have eaten. With all the potential toxins our parrots put up with daily in our households, mercury has no need to be one of them.

-This a small detail, but one I find important. Some of the stock pictures included in the book are those of dried fruit that is as brightly colored as fresh. Please be aware that if your apricots are still yellow/orange instead of a dark brown red, they are treated with sulfur, whatever the package does or does not say. The same applies to other dried foods. While some parrots may not have a problem with sulfur as a preservative, many do. It was definitely a problem for both Frank and Claudia. I had gotten a very popular parrot food for them that contain dried fruit and did not list sulfur. In fact, it is touted as all natural, nothing added food. If you talk to the company, however, as I did when I almost immediately noticed problems, you discover that they can make these claims because they do not add the sulfur, they buy the fruit already sulfured. Yes, that is correct. They can sell it without listing it as long as they did not add it, even though they know full well it is there.

Now, back to the things I like! The wonderful folks at PL did a great job of explaining about the different types of foods, and the different ways to serve them. They also place emphasis on avoiding many foods that are commonly fed by well meaning parrot caretakers, such as white flour and jiffy mixes in birdie breads. And if you don't believe jiffy mixes should be avoided at all cost, just read the label!

Nourish to Flourish, Phoenix Landing Press

P.S. It is worth buying alone for the oh-so-adorable pics of parrots eating. Seriously.