boxed birdie bread

[jriley]

Help! I know there are great recipes out there, but I really don't want to take the time to amass all the ingredients to make my own birdie bread. However, I'd like to try it out on my guys, especially on my quaker, who won't touch fresh food.

Has anyone tried any of the pre-packaged birdie bread mixes? I was looking at the mama bird brand and it sounds yummy, but it's pretty expensive. I'd like to hear what people think, particularly how much bread it made and how well it was received.

Thanks a bunch,
Julie

[Valo's Moirana]

i personally don't like pre-mixes by any means... you don't really know what's in it....

check this out:
Birdie bread for amateur bakers

this takes about as much time as mixing the pre-mix.... 10min of throwing all the stuff together, and wait until it's done baking in the oven. lots of people had great success with this receipe, and my fids love it

[Mammabird]

I used Mama Birdie to get my seed eaters to finally try something other than seed as the mix contains hulled millet. It worked great! Later I added Roudybush mini pellets to the batter and got them to eat pellets that way also. Took a while but I had other birds to eat it so it didn't get wasted.

Once everyone was converted to baked goods and would eat a bit of pellets I added grated carrots, apples & stuff like that to get them to eat fresh foods. Since having millet in the mix is no longer important to me I make my own with Jiffy Corn Bread mix as the base. If you're not into chopping you can grab some jars of babyfood like Sweet potatoe, diced mangos, papaya (they have lots of cool fruits & organic stuff for babies now). There are dry baby cereals like rice and oatmeal that can be added to the mix. Pick up a bag of chopped almonds in the baking isle to sprinkle on top.

You can always defrost a cup of frozen mixed veggies & toss in a cup of pellets of your choice.

[Ginich]

Originally Posted by jriley

Help! I know there are great recipes out there, but I really don't want to take the time to amass all the ingredients to make my own birdie bread. However, I'd like to try it out on my guys, especially on my quaker, who won't touch fresh food.

Has anyone tried any of the pre-packaged birdie bread mixes? I was looking at the mama bird brand and it sounds yummy, but it's pretty expensive. I'd like to hear what people think, particularly how much bread it made and how well it was received.

Thanks a bunch,
Julie

Julie, Check this out and the other Gini's BIRDIEBREAD threads-I do all the work for you and deliver a finished product!

Ginich's BirdieBread

PM your regular email and I'll send you my latest enewletter with the July Specials!

[jriley]

Well I broke down and made some "homemade" birdie muffins. Thanks for the suggestions-I just modified them so I could use what I had on hand. Here's what I ended up using:

2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix
4 eggs with shells (whirled whole eggs in the blender)
2 cups Zupreem ("crumbed" in blender)
2 cups tropical dried fruit/nut mix (crumbed in blender)
half a large can of pumpkin
2 cups "broccoli slaw", I buy it from produce section, it is slivers of broccoli, carrots, zucchini, and red cabbage
1/2 cup milk

I cooked some in ice cream cones for Molly, my umbrella 'too, and the rest in mini muffin pans. It took about 20 minutes at 400 for the cones, 15 minutes for the mini muffins.

Molly and Nicky, the sun conure, both tore their mini muffins to pieces and I think some of it did get eaten LOL. Little Girl, the Quaker, yelled at hers for a long time and then ignored it. This is pretty much standard operating procedure for her and anything new. I may break some up and mix with her seed to see if that makes it less threatening. I gave Molly one of the cones (they are the normal-sized cones) and she's a little fearful of it, but she generally gets over her fear pretty quickly and I expect to see it destroyed before the end of the evening.

The recipe above made 11 cones (I ran out, that's why the odd number) and about 40 mini muffins. So, looks like I have at least a couple weeks' worth for an hour in the kitchen. Thanks everyone for encouraging me.

Julie

[Cindy215]

Yes yours works great and it's sweet so they'll eat it. But next time I'd just use Valo's Morena's because the Jiffy has sugar and salt. But to convert them, no problem.

Using pumpkin is great for the vitamin a and the pellets too.

Leave the milk out birds cant digest milk, next time just add water to the pumpkin or an applesauce or carrot juice or orange juice.

I'd leave the eggshell out it's supposed to be baked or boiled first for bacteria, they say....

Mama bird's is good, but fresh is better. It's not that expensive when you consider you're only giving an inch or two and it'll probably last you a month so.

The Quaker will eventually try it especially when she sees the others or you can put the seed in there. Alot of people break it up.

Even if they really don't "digest" alot, enrichment especially with food is so important, I'm sure they were very grateful and enjoyed it alot!

Here's a couple more quick ones from the wonderful Gloria at Whitewings Farm (RIP)

BASIC BIRD BREAD

1 c. unbleached flour
1 c. cornmeal
1 tbsp baking powder
1 egg
1 c juice ( carrot, orange, apple, mango, passion fruit etc.)
1/8 c oil
1/2-3/4 c frozen, mixed veggies (thawed) & greens (Kale, Dandelion, collard etc.)

Put egg, juice and oil in blender and blend well. Pour at least half in with dry ingredients and then put thawed veggies & greens into blender and blend long enough to just chop them into finer pieces. Add this to dry mixture and mix all ingredients until well blended. Pour into 8" baking pan that has been lined with wax paper and bake at 425 F for about 30 minutes.

ANOTHER RECIPE:

For every 1 cup of left over salad/grain mix (this can be a combination of the raw chopped veggies, and any combination of cooked grains/legumes mixed together):

add...... (I have been using 1 cup of mixed raw chopped fruit & veggies & 1 cup of the above recipe for cooked bean/rice/veggie mix then add the below ingredients)

2 cups whole grain flour, rice flour. (I have been using corn meal)
2 whole raw eggs (include shells)
Assorted spices (cinnamon or ginger)

About 1/2 cup of seed or raw/dry grain (or chopped nuts, unsweetened coconut, slivered almonds, dried fruit, apple sauce, quinoa, oat groats, etc.

Enough sugar-free liquid to make a nice thick pour-able batter. (about 1 1/4 cup). Any juice as long as it does not contain sugar.

Bake in a 13" x 8" x 3" glass pan for 45 - 50 minutes at 350°. You can 'grease' the dish with coconut oil or olive oil on a paper towel.


Oatmeal Balls

3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups Quaker oats
1/2 cup combined chopped fruit and nuts and coconut mixture.....I make my own. (you could use Hagen's Gourmet mix....it would do nicely.)
1/2 cup unsweetened natural applesauce
1/3 cup dark molasses
1 teasp cinnamon
1/2 teasp cloves
1 teasp vanilla
1 egg.

Mix it all up like mad.....roll into balls....bake at 325 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes....or as long as it takes.
Pam the cookie sheet first.
Add more oats if needed.....another egg or more applesauce if wanted wetter.
You really want this fairly stiff.
Make to about the size of large Walnuts.
Just before serving, dust with Hagen's Prime Vitamins....they taste lovely and you may then feel entirely virtuous about cookies for your feathers. They have now become highly nutritious.

Gloria at Whitewings Farm.



And one called Vitamin A muffins with Jiffy but I'm still going to use the mixture of ingredients. I may have gotten this one here...:

2 box Jiffy
1 c shredded carrots
1 med yam baked and mashed
15 oz pumpkin
1/4 c nuts or whatever additions
1 c carrot juice
2 eggs

mix carrots, pumpkin, yam and nuts together. stir in muffin mix, stir in eggs, add carrot juice till right consistency.. scoop into tins. fill to the top,

Bake for about 20-30 minutes at 400 degreees makes 18

Another mix if you get bored or in a hurry is Arrowhead Mills Whole Wheat muffins. Good with winter flavors.

(for baking powder make sure its the non aluminum....)

Birds like deep complex flavors so dont worry about trying new stuff like the cinnamon etc. A little bit of bread goes a long way....

[Cindy215]

Here's a bunch of fun additions to breads that some nice person took the time to type up. And to name lol.

I'll put the bread recipe below under the additions....but it's a little complicated imo AND I never use Soy with birds.


These mighta come from here too, I have a ton of them!

[Turn on blender or vita mixer and process until you achieve a thick puree that has some visible small pieces of the contents. If too thick, add a bit of water. To the wet base of the bread, process-in any one of the following mixtures.]


Italian
1 medium Tomato / 1 1/2 cups fresh leaves Spinach / 1/2 cup chopped Bell Pepper / 1 cup chopped Zucchini / 1 cup Spaghetti Squash / 3 cloves Garlic / 1 cup Green Beans / 1/4 cup fresh Basil or 1 Tsp. dry Basil or ½ cup Italian Season Parmesan Cheese

Zesty Garden
1 stalk chopped Celery / 1 cup Corn / ½ cup chopped Bell Pepper / 1 cup chopped Broccoli / 1 ½ cup Leafy Greens (kale, turnip, beet, mustard) ¼ cup chopped Chives / 1 cup Green Peas / ¼ cup dill weed / 1 Tsp. Garden Seasoning (rosemary, basil, etc)

Mexican Tomato
1 medium Tomato / 1 cup Corn / 1 cup chopped Bell Pepper / ½ cup choped Jalapeno Pepper / 3 cloves chopped Garlic / 1 cup Jicama (may omit) 1 cup Winter Squash (acorn, butternut, etc) / 1 cup cooked mung Beans or lentils / 1 Tsp. Chili Powder / 1 Tsp. Oregano

Golden Harvest
1 chopped Apple, cored /1 cup Winter Squash (acorn, butternut, pumpkin) / 1 cup Yellow Fruit (peach, apricot, nectarine, cantaloupe) 1 Tsp. Nutmeg / 1 Tsp. Ginger / 1 Tsp. Cinnamon

Merry Berry
1 chopped Apple, cored / 1 cup Strawberries / 1 cup chopped Kiwi, Blueberries or Cherries / 1 cup Raspberries or Blackberries / 1 cup Cranberries or Orange / 1 ½ cups fresh leaves Spinach / 1 lb Tofu (may omit) / 1 Tsp. Nutmeg

Citrus Delight
1 chopped Apple, cored / 1 chopped Orange (include peel, wash well) / 1 Grapefruit (no peel or bitter section) / Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon / Zest and Juice of 1 Lime / 1 ½ cups chopped Kale / ½ cup fresh or 1 Tsp. powdered Lemon Grass / 1 lb. Tofu (may omit) 1 Tsp. Allspice

Sweet Heat
1 chopped Apple, cored / 1 can Pineapple in its own juice (If in syrup, then you must drain and rinse all the syrup out of the fruit before processing) 5 large/8 small whole chopped Jalapeno Peppers

I changed the pinto beans to mung or lentils (or adzuki is good) because IMO pinto beans are way too hard on the digestive system even though for years we were using them.

Next time I make a batch of mix, I'm going to make muffins and put some of alot of these in before filling the muffin tins.


Basic Bread Mix:

1/2 cup ground nuts (walnuts, pecans, brazils, almonds)
2 cups whole wheat flour -
2 cups oatmeal -
1 cup wheat germ -
1 cup corn meal -
1 cup whey protein or soy milk powder -
1 cup soy flour -
1 cup unprocessed millers bran -
1 cup soy lecithin -
1/3 - 1/2 cup oil

Do NOT use fragile oils that are easily damaged by heat, like flax, borage, evening primrose. Best oils to use would be coconut or olive oil.

Safflower, sunflower, and corn are high in Omega 6 fatty acids, which birds already obtain from their diets and have been implicated in exacerbating some inflammatory diseases.

Don't worry if you don't have all the flour ingredients. Just increase any of the others to substitute.

Wet Mix Base:
6 eggs (including shells)
2 cups chopped carrots
1 peeled Banana
1 large Apple (cored, cut into inch pieces)



Directions: Add wet mix to the dry mix in the mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly. You should have a cookie dough consistency. If too wet, add a bit of flour...doesn't matter which kind.

Spread onto a lipped cookie sheet that has been well sprayed with cooking oil. Bake in 300 or 350 degree oven until knife or toothpick comes out clean, about 30-40 minutes. The wetter the mix, the longer it will take to bake. This batch might make two sheets depending on the size of the sheet. This will provide approximately 80 one-inch cubes of bird-bread.
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[CrazyforCockatiels]

Great recipes! Thanks!

[Valo's Moirana]

great receipes, cindy - hit "ctrl p" and make some on the weekend

thanks!

[Cindy215]

Well the "ctrl p" is the quick part LOL.....I just made YOUR recipe. I used mustard greens, some baby broc,, yellow squash, carrot j instead of apple cuz i didnt have apple, a half jalopena pepper, some fresh corn.

I stuck Foundation Formula pellets in half to see what they think. Probably they will love it they are pigs with those stupid pellets.

I'm hungry smelling it but it's too hard to eat around the SEEDS. Thanks Bee, for that easy recipe.