Recipes

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Quinoa Breakfast of Champions

Quinoa (pronounced "keen-nwa") is a South American grain that is high in protein, calcium, and phosphorous. Probably the most nutritious grain in the world, it is an excellent food for parrots, either sprouted and served raw, or cooked, as in this recipe. It is available in most health food stores as a bulk grain.

1 cup quinoa
2-3 cups water
Corn kernels
Chopped carrots
Raisins and/or dried apples (un-sulphured, found in health food stores)
Cinnamon stick

Boil 2 cups of water, add quinoa. Cook for 10 minutes, then add veggies and dried fruit. Cook another 5 minutes or until the quinoa grain clears and has a tiny tail sprouting from it. You may have to add a little more water if it gets too dry too quickly. Let cool. Serve. You can put almost any veggies or fruits in this recipe.

Cockatiels adore this grain and even the most stubborn eaters will be tempted!


Birdie Bread

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup yellow corn meal
2 tsp baking power
3/4 tsp salt
? tsp baking soda
1 Tbs sugar
2 eggs with shells
3 Tbs oil (your preference)
1 cup buttermilk

Grease an 8" pan with Pam. Mix dry ingredients. Wash eggs then pulverize in blender. Mix in oil and buttermilk, then mix in dry ingredients. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and cut into small squares and freeze.
Variations: Fruits, veggies, peppers, nuts, etc. can be added to the mixture if you like.

This recipe comes from the kitchen of June DiCiocco of Hideaway Farms in South Carolina. She breeds  Finches, Conures, Pacific Parrotlets, and Severe Macaws. She says that Conures particularly love this birdie bread.


I Yam What I Yam
(six servings)

Yams are an excellent source of vitamin A. The corn is a good addition because most birds will eat corn, and the yam mixture sticks to it, so they get to learn how to like yams if they're wary of new foods. The yogurt gives them not only calcium, but acidophilus and bifidus, both excellent fighters of yeast infections! This is a great recipe for birds that are feeding their young. It's easy to digest and regurgitate for babies.

2 Medium/Large Yams
1/4 c Raisins (unsulphured)
1 tsp. Butter (optional-but does have things a bird needs!)
? tsp. Pumpkin spice
? c Corn
1/4 c Nonfat Yogurt (preferably organic)

Cut yams into quarters then boil until soft. Drop in raisins for the last 5 minutes of boiling. Cool. Peel off skins. Put peeled yams back in pot and mash, adding butter and pumpkin spice. Add back raisins and corn and mix into the yams. Serve in glass bowls for maximum visual stimulation ;). Put a dollop of nonfat yogurt on top of each serving.

Warning: Do not leave this food in the cage for more than 2-3 hours, especially on a hot day.

This recipe comes from the kitchen of Vera, Los Angeles, California. Lovebirds, Amazons, Budgies, Senegals, and Parrotlets have tested and approved it.


Soft Food Mix For Eclectus

This nutritious mixture of foods is relished by all Eclectus, from babies to adults, including breeders who feed it to their babies in the nest, however, other parrots have tried and enjoyed this recipe. The mixture is very similar to the popular prepared ones, but is much less expensive and can be tailored to the individual taste preferences of your birds.

Soak overnight half a large stockpot of dry shelled whole corn or popcorn. Bring to a boil and cook over low heat the next morning for several hours, or until the corn is plumped and soft in the middle. Water will need to be added several times as it is absorbed by the corn, which more than doubles in volume.

Also, soak overnight your choice of dried beans. Eclectus seem to favor garbanzo beans (chick peas) and you can also use kidney, cranberry, pinto, lima, northern, chili, black beans or others. Cook the next morning for an hour or less or until "al dente".

Cook one or two boxes of Uncle Ben's Original Brown Rice or a large bag of brown rice for approximately thirty minutes.
Optional foods to be cooked with the brown rice are raisins, currants, shelled sunflower seeds, shelled pumpkin seeds, wheat berries, barley, whole oats, pasta, nuts, and cinnamon, cloves or ginger for added flavor. For Eclectus, I usually include chopped sweet potato for the Vitamin A content.

Combine all ingredients in a large container or clean sink. Mix and allow to cool. Seal in plastic bags in daily portions, press flat for faster thawing, and freeze. To serve, thaw and bring to a boil. Allow to cool before feeding. For faster cooling, add frozen garden peas or individually frozen fruits, such as cranberries, which act as mini-ice cubes. The heat from the mix will thaw the peas or fruits. Do not leave this mixture in the feeding dishes long enough to spoil.


Cornmeal Fantasy

If you can boil water and stir, you can make your birds very happy! ! This recipe is similar to a flan or soft pudding. You need only fine ground corn flour, available in most supermarkets.

Stir fine ground corn flour into boiling water until it starts to thicken, and continue stirring for another minute or two. At this point, you have a soft pudding. If you want to embellish the recipe, you can now add pumpkin puree, apple sauce, or baby food fruits or veggies. I think you may be surprised just how much your birds like this simple food. You'll have no problem finding a feathered friend to "lick the spoon"! My birds just call it YUM! It can be refrigerated for several days or frozen in squares for later use.


Bird Bread For Eclectus

This recipe makes a "heavy" bread, not as light as you would prepare for yourself, but the birds love it! Notice that it contains very little baking powder (some baking powders contain aluminum), no added sugar or other sweeteners, and no added salt.

In a large bowl combine the following ingredients:
2 cups yellow corn meal
1 cup whole wheat flour
l cup currants or raisins
1 cup nuts (pine, almond, walnut, pecan)
1 cup shelled sunflower seeds
1 twenty-nine ounce can of solid pack pumpkin
1 thirty-two ounce bottle of papaya nectar
1/2 cup of sunflower or safflower oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon baking powder

Add enough water or juice to make a pourable batter. Use two large well-greased baking pans. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes or until done. Cool and slice. Can be frozen.


Popcorn Pizza

Use popcorn cakes, a corn version of rice cakes, available in all health food stores and most supermarkets. Spread on the top of the popcorn cake a thin layer of peanut butter. Top with your birds' favorite foods, such as: grated carrots, chopped broccoli, thin-sliced apple, apple sauce, fresh peas, grated mozzarella cheese, etc. No cooking required.


Sweet Potato Balls

Blue and gold macaws, African greys, Senegal, Keets, 'tiels-- it seems as if most birds--enjoy this recipe. You can add just about anything to this basic mix and birds seem to love them. Peanut butter, oatmeal, coconut or any fruit or vegetables are some examples.

1 large sweet potato, microwaved until soft
1/2 cup raisins
1 mashed banana
1 cup mixed fresh or frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup diced apples
1 1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal, corn flakes or granola cereal.

Mix all together and add enough fruit or vegetable juice to make it form small balls. Freeze balls individually. Defrost and serve.


Tropical Rice Pudding

My Baby Senegal Niki just loves this recipe!

1 c brown rice
1-1/2 c rolled or cracked corn
1/2 c unsulphured dried banana
3-1/2 T split green peas
2-1/2 T raisins
2-1/2 T pistachio nuts (unsalted)
1 T dates broken in pieces
1 tsp dried milk powder
1/4 tsp allspice

Add contents to 1 quart water. Bring to boil, lower heat, cover and boil gently for 30 minutes. Serve warm or cool. Yields 2 lbs. Approx. 1-1/2 quarts.

You can make batches weekly or monthly depending how many birds you have. Keep a 3-day supply in fridge to reheat in the microwave (avoid hot spots) Serve no more than can be consumed in 5 hours to avoid spoilage. In hot weather, be careful not to leave it in cage for any more than 2 hours, unless you have air conditioning. My own added observation after feeding it to My African Grey and My Senegal is that they eat it all within 2 hours. I also freeze the recipe in ice cube trays, then I put the frozen cubes in baggies in the freezer. They will keep for a month, and when supper time comes I pop 2 cubes in the microwave on DEFROST, cool (do check, it can get to hot) and serve.


Easy Cornbread

This recipe helped us convert our cockatiels to pellets.

1 package cornbread mix (try to get one low in sugar)
2 eggs, shell included
1/2 cup seed mix
1/2 cup pellets (any brand you prefer)
1 cup mixed vegetables.

Mix ingredients together per package instructions and adding the extra ingredients above. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.

Sun Conures and Cockatiels absolutely love this cornbread.


Tails Up Good

I have a parrot rescue aviary. I have had to learn how to convert older seed lovers to veggies. This is a winner.

1 c cornmeal
1 c wheat germ
1/4 c groats
1/4 c buckwheat
1/4 c soybeans finely ground
1/4 c nuts coarsely ground
1/8 c olive oil
1 c fresh/frozen corn cooked
1 c shredded carrots
1c greens chopped
5 eggs shell and all
1 apple chopped fine
1/2 cup soy milk
left over rice or beans (optional)

Mix all ingredients together. Prepare 9x13 inch pan with olive oil. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then at 350 degrees for another 30 minutes or until done.


Fruit and Veggie "Popsicles"

My Senegal really likes this recipe!

1 apple
1 carrot
1 orange
several grapes
1 tomato
1 green pepper
Any other fruits and veggie your bird might eat

Put the ingredients on a cutting board and dice them finely (except for the orange). Place the ingredients in a bowl. Cut the orange and squeeze (over the bowl) until it is out of juice. Pack your ingredients into a ball and stick in a wooden popsicle stick. Wrap with wax paper and put in freezer. Let it sit for an hour. Take out and give it to your bird (my bird likes the popsicle stick the best!).


Tropical Fruit Dish

I have a Quaker and a Lovebird and they just love this recipe!

Put in a certain amount of everything depending on what kind of bird you have: kiwi, watermelon, grapes, hard-boiled egg (shell included).

Mix all ingredients (look at chart below) except the egg shell together in a food bowl. Chop the egg shell very finely with a fork. Sprinkle egg shell on top of the fruit mix.

Lovebirds-Budgies:1 slice of cut kiwi, 1 cut up cube of watermelon, 1 sliced grape 1/2 egg, 1/4 egg shell.

Quakers-Lories:2 slices of kiwi, 2 cubes of watermelon, 2 grapes, 1 egg and shell.

Amazon-African Grey: 4 slices of kiwi, 4 slices of watermelon, 5 grapes, 2 eggs and shell.

Macaws: 6 slices of kiwi, 6 slices of water melon, 7 grapes, 2 1/2 egg and shell.


Sweet Rice Mash

I haven't found any parrot on a veggie diet that wouldn't eat it!

4 coarsely grated sweet potatoes
2 bags brown rice
1 can carrot juice
1 can veggie baked beans (rinsed to remove excess sugar)
1 bag small shell pasta

Boil rice using carrot juice added to the water until almost done. Add in sweet potatoes and pasta (adding a little more water if needed - just enough to keep from sticking - you want it to fully absorb). Stir often. Add in rinsed baked beans, stir some more. I divide it up into several zip freezer bags and then take out what I need each day.

"My pets, breeders, and babies love this, it is part of their daily diet. I add in different fresh seasonal and frozen veggies, and some sprouted sunflower seed each day, then in the afternoon they get their fruit and more fresh greens."

Arizona Parrots, Tucson AZ        PH#520-298-0379