Bean (glad I won't be home), Veggie & Fruit Mix

I'll have to rate this one later because I haven't made it yet. But here's the deal. I bought a huge bag of organic beans. There are about 13 types of beans in the package. I'd love to eat that for myself in a nice vegetable based soup, but fine! The bird gets everything. I know.

• 13-bean mix (organic)
• brown rice
• vegetables and fruits
• chili peppers or whatever hot stuff your bird likes most
  

Okay, here's the trick with the beans. You have to rinse them off, then let them sit in water for 6 hours (overnight). When ya get up, rinse them again, then start boling those beans! They're going to take about 3 hours depending on the variety you get. Or if you're smart, you'll soak the beans before you go to work so you can make them when you get home!

I personally would do the brown rice separately, but I'm sure you can toss it in during the last hour or so. If you used white rice, it would be a last 20-minutes endeavour

Take care of the mixed vegetables and fruits while this other stuff is in the last 10 minutes or so. Whether you're just leaving the veggies fresh, or heating up mixed veggies. My bird tends to like cooked veggies more, but we'll see.

Once you're all done with the beans, rice, veggies and fruits: If your parrot hates pellets like mine does, throw a few into the finished mixture and pray they don't notice. Little bit of revenge for the fact that they make you slave away and cook for them.

Peanut Apple Surprise

Even the fussiest eaters will like this one, if they like peanut butter and apples.

Ingredients:

• Cooked rotelle pasta
  
• Cooked mixed vegetables
• Organic peanut butter (don't use freshly ground peanut butter) *
  
• Chopped apples
• Pellets (whatever the usual is)
• Mixed human-grade organic seeds/nuts *

Cook the pasta and mixed vegetables as you would for yourself. If you happen to like soggy pasta, stop cooking it when it's al dente and give it a rinse. Birds tend not to like mushy food. If you also happen to be lazy and want to cook both items in the same bowl, add the vegetables in the last couple of minutes. Mix the peanut butter in with the pasta and vegetables while they are still warm. Wash and chop up some apple and toss it into the mixture once it has cooled down a little. Add pellets and seeds/nuts. Try not to use bird seed mix that contains peanuts. Use human grade to lower the risk of mold. (Yuck!)

* Whenever possible, don't give your parrot commercial seed mixes. They often contain fungi, mold, bacteria, insects and sometimes even aflatoxins which can cause cancer and liver disease in birds. Like the bugs aren't bad enough. Human grade organic seeds are safest. It may sound great, but don't go buying freshly ground peanut butter for your bird. They don't monitor that stuff for aflatoxins. Dried fruits can also get moldy and contain preservatives like sulphites. I also find them to be way too sugary, even for me to eat.