I've been wanting to post this for a couple of weeks now, but unfortunately, shortly after Jamie and I made this, I lost my camera. :( I am sure it is hiding somewhere and I will find it someday when I've given up looking, but in the meantime, I'll go ahead and post this and will come back and add pictures later when/if I find them.

Jamie and I split a list of foods down the middle and went shopping: I got most of my goods from Whole Foods (and a few from H-E-B), and Jamie got hers from Central Market, the Sunset Valley Farmer's Market, Sprout People, and a few online stores (help me out with this part, Jamie!)

Then we came to my house and got to choppin'. Jamie brought her sprouted Dr. Bird mix from Sprout People, and I soaked my 15 bean mix the night before we met up so the legumes would be prepped for cooking. We cooked the beans and grains while we chopped the veggies and then mixed it all together in the (clean) tray from Cah'ya's bird cage (I never use the tray that goes on top of the cage because I feel like it makes the cages too dark...hence the clean tray). Then we split the mix in half and each brought home THREE MONTHS' WORTH of fresh chop 'n' freeze mix. The fruit we chopped/froze separately.

Here's the grand list of what we used:

Grains:
Brown Rice
Mahogany and Black Rice Mix
Oat Groats
Quinoa
Red Quinoa
Millet

Legumes:
15 Bean Mix

Sprouts:
Sprout People's Dr. Bird Mix
Broccoli Sprouts
Clover Sprouts
Radish Sprouts

Veggies:
Kale
Chard
Collard Greens
Spinach
Dandelion Leaves
Broccoli
Carrots
Green Beans
Snow Peas
Sugar Snap Peas
Seabeans
Sweet Potatoes/Yams
Acorn Squash

Peppers:
Red, Orange, Yellow, and Green Bell Peppers
Dried Pepper Mix
Jalapeno
Poblano

Herbs:
Spearmint
Hibiscus
Chamomile
Red Leaf Raspberry
Rosehips
Flaxseed
Red Palm Oil

Fruits:
Apples
Oranges
Mangos
Kiwi
Blueberries
Strawberries
Goji Berries
Bananas
Raspberries
Blackberries
Papaya
Seasonal Fruits

All of our birds LOVE this mix and it has such variety that we feel secure knowing that our birds are getting excellent balanced nutrition. It was also a lot more fun to make chop 'n' freeze together than having to do it alone, and it saved us some money as well! I can't wait to find the pictures of the mix laid out in that huge tray. It's a beautiful sight to behold. I'll be sure to post it as soon as I find it!

Wow, that does sound birdi-licious!!! Hurry and find those pictures!! I make a mash for mine, but no one really cares for it. :o( Maybe I should try and make yours and see what happens.

Well I owe you some chop 'n' freeze anyway, so if you remind me before the next meeting, I'll bring you a couple of bags for your birds to try.

Awww... you don't OWE me anything! I was happy to help. But I wouldn't mind trying some of yours either.

Found my camera! Here are pictures of the mix!

Sorry about that. I edited my photobucket photo and didn't realize it had broken the links. Fixed now...

That does look yummy! Are the toes for extra protein???

I've been meaning to add this, and just keep forgetting. After Emily and Jamie posted their Chop n Freeze, I decided to make my own. I too did a veggie, legume, grain, sprout, etc. mix, probably not as good as theirs as I didn't have alot of the herbs (but better than nothing at all right?) I also did a separate fruit chop n freeze. I am out of the fruit part as I didn't buy enough to make it last as long as the veggie part. I made these on 12/09/09. I ran out of the fruit a couple months ago and just have been doing the fresh. But I still have tons of the veggie mix left and it's been almost 6 months since I made it! (WOW.. didn't realize it had been that long already!)

Since it's been so long now since I was going to post this, I don't remember all of the ingredients, nor the cost. Next time I make it, I will be sure to take note of both. However I DO KNOW that this is not only a HUGE money saver, it saves so much time!

It took me 1 whole day to do all this this by myself. (So I do recommend doing this with a friend or 2) But I probably made enough chop n freeze to last almost a year! (Have 4 small birds, so that helps too.. lol) When I do run out, I will post so we know how long it lasted me.

Veggie Chop n Freeze






Fruit Chop n Freeze

Would anyone be interested in meeting at my house this summer and making this? I will buy the pizza and soda,
Birds welcome~

I would love to come help! It's a lot of fun. Not so fun when you do it alone.. LOL I still have a bunch left over myself, but would be happy to hep you and whoever else would like to make some!