Recipe Corner
by Christine Eicher
Winter 2003
Sprouts :: Sprouting Basics :: How to Sprout :: Seed Mixes ::Tropical Gazpacho :: The Happy bird Bakery :: Salad Patch Recipes :: Miscellaneous Information
SproutsWhat vegetable requires no soil, no sunlight, no fertilizer and is available for eating within hours? The answer is the tiny, mighty sprout of course. No matter what the climate, weather or the season, we always have access to one of the most nutritious vegetables – the sprout.
Sprouts are a powerhouse of nutrition. Sprouts are packed full of antioxidants, full of protein, chlorophyll when greened, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and amino acids. Researchers at the Universities of Pennsylvania and Yale have found that sprouts retain the B-complex vitamins present in the original seed and have a tremendous increase in their levels of Vitamin A (300%) and Vitamin C (500 to 600%).
Sprouts are easier to assimilate for two reasons:
- the presence of enzymes in sprouted seeds and
- seed starches have been converted to simple sugars.
Every seed comes equipped with its own food source. The only catalyst required to start the journey of life is moisture. We give the seed its initial contact with moisture by soaking and continue to nurture by rinsing. If we did not, the seed and it’s sprout would shrivel up and die.
You can make your own sprouting device out of a mason jar and stainless screening or you can purchase a sprouter from just about any sprout supplier. SproutPeople.com, ForbirdsSakes.com and ChinaPrairie.com have Sprouters that are easy to use and are quite affordable. I use the Easy Sprouter and find it truly a no brainer sprouter!
The four most important factors in successful sprouting are:
1. using organically produced seeds,
2. using seeds grown expressly for the purpose of sprouting,
3. purchasing only the freshest seeds (if your seeds are fresh you will see some sprouting activity within 24 hours)
4. and rinsing.
Never has a batch of sprouts gone bad because of over rinsing. So rinse, rinse, rinse those seeds before, during and after sprouting. Always rinse until the water runs clear.
How to SproutPrepare your seeds for soaking
Measure out your seeds and inspect for foreign materials, i.e., small stones, twigs, etc. Transfer the seeds to your sprouting device and rinse until the water runs clear.
Of special note: Quinoa must be rinsed multiple times to get off the soapy tasting saponin in the seed coat. Did you know that Quinoa is the only sprout that contains every single amino-acid?
Soak your seeds
Do not expose your soaking seeds to direct sunlight. Sprouts grow best between 65 and 75 degrees so adjust your soak water temperature and sprouting environment accordingly. The amount of water should be at least two to three times the amount of seed you are sprouting.
During the soak period, drain and rinse often. The more often you drain and rinse, the less chance of spoilage. I drain and rinse every 4 to 6 hours. Always rinse until the water runs clear. Your sprouting seeds should never smell sour. I soak until I see some little tails on the ends of some of the seeds which occurs within 12 to 24 hours. Not all your seeds will show the same sprouting activity. Sprouts at this stage are at the peak of nutrition and will continue to grow in the fridge.
Rinse and prepare for storage
Rinse the sprouts until the water runs clear. Then fill up your sprouting device with fresh water, add freshly squeezed lemon juice, soak for 15 minutes, and then drain well. Store in container and put in fridge. Use sprouts within 48 hours.
There are excellent parrot sprouting mixes available from the following:
www.SproutPeople.com
www.ForfidsSake.com
www.ChinaPrairie.com
www.SproutMix.com
(serves 4)
Reprinted with permission from SproutPeople.com
Leafy Sprouts
Beanie’s Awesome Mix
Peasant Mix
Mix #47
San Francisco Mix
Spring Garden Mix
16 oz of tomato juice
12 oz of papaya juice
6 oz of pineapple juice
1 red pepper diced
2 zucchinis– halved and sliced
1 small red onion diced ***
2 mangos – peeled and diced
¾ cup pineapple – diced
cilantro (to taste) – chopped
3 plum tomatoes – quartered
1 cup Leafy Sprouts – chopping optional
1 cup Sprouted Beans
salt to taste *
* add these ingredients after serving your birds and before serving yourself.
Mix all of the ingredients together and chill.
Sources:
www.SproutPeople.com
www.cityfarmer.org/sprout86.html
www.isga-sprouts.org
www.living-foods.com
Here are two delicious muffin recipes created by Christa Kangas She writes, “I have three birds. I love them to pieces. I decided to bake for them to make sure they get a well rounded diet. When I bake I can sneak pellet powder and a lot of ground fresh veggies into things. Ash is my CAG and does not eat pellets but loves birdie bread and muffins. Tom is my rescue Cockatiel and he eats everything! Georgie is my Budgie and does not like pellets but loves the muffins”. The pellets used in this recipe are Foundation Formula from OrganicBirdFood.com.
Ash’s Favorite Bran Muffins
2 cups organic bran muffin mix
1 whole egg
1 Tbsp. Oil
1 cup juice of your choice (I use orange)
1 6 oz. jar of fruit mix baby food
½ cup pellet dust or ground pellets
You can also add handfuls or sprinkles of:
Quinoa, raisins, flax seed, ground brazil nuts, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes. Check for doneness using a knife, toothpick or wooden skewer. If it comes out clean, the muffins are done. These muffins will turn out very thick.
Ash’s Favorite Cornbread Muffins
2 cups organic cornbread mix
1 whole egg
1 cup orange juice
¼ cup water
2 Tbsp. Oil
½ cup corn pieces
½ cup pellet powder
½ cup whole pellets
2 handfuls of flake type cereal
1 mashed ripe banana
Add a dash of each of the following: allspice, cinnamon, basil and garlic powder
Add 2 dashes of chili powder.
This recipe will fill up the muffin cups. Sprinkle chopped nuts on top and bake at 400 degrees for 30 – 40 minutes or until golden brown.
Storing either type of muffin: Muffins may be frozen, just make sure that they have cooled completely. After thawing, muffins may be microwaved for a few seconds.
This recipe was posted on the Parrotlet Express at SmartGroups by Judie Wellman who found it on a Senegal list where it was posted by someone who found it on an African Grey list.
Homemade Nutriberriesauthor unknown
1 cup dried fruit
2 Tbsp. Coconut
½ cup uncooked oatmeal
½ cup raisins
¼ cup seeds or crushed nuts
2 Tbsp. Molasses or honey
Blend all dry ingredients in a food processor until chopped fine. Place in a bowl and add peanut butter, honey or molasses. Mix well and shape into a small half ball. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
I would just like to add that when shopping for organic cereals, muffin mixes and organic baby foods it is important to read the nutritional information printed on the packaging and purchase the ones that are lowest in sodium, sugars and iron.
Always use cold pressed organic oils in your cooking and keep in mind that when an oil is heated up to 500 degrees free radicals are released and when ingested, are free to roam and ravage precious cells in your body. The following list of monounsaturated oils are stable for use in baking at temperatures between 325 degrees and 375 degrees: sesame, pistachio, almond, hazelnut and olive oil.
Sources:
www.gallbladerattack.com
www.annecollins.com
Pickled Beets
from my mother Jean
1 cup organic Japanese rice vinegar
½ cup Sucanat (purchased from Health Food store)
2 and ½ organic Bay Leaves
10 whole organic cloves
Measure vinegar into a small saucepan and stir in Sucanat. Stir over medium high heat until Sucanat is dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat immediately and add bay leaves and whole cloves.
Pour hot mixture over cooked, peeled, quartered beets. When beet mixture has cooled, refrigerate. Pickled beets are ready to eat the next day.
Hard boiled eggs may also be added to the vinegar, beet mixture.
Want information on Sucanat? Go to www.HealthRecipes.com/health_sucanat.htm
Beet and Potato Salad
revised recipe from Lilia who is Lithuanian and helps me to care for my elderly mother
This recipe originally called for dill pickles and plain boiled beets. Because of the high sodium content of the pickles I substituted pickled beets.
2 parts pickled beets cut in small cubes
2 parts cooked organic carrots cut in small cubes
1 part cooked organic potatoes cut in small cubes
1 part diced organic celery
2 parts thawed frozen organic baby green peas
1 and ½ part cooked organic kidney beans or organic pinto beans
Chopped hard boiled organic egg – optional
First cold pressed organic extra virgin olive oil
Diced organic onion added to human portion of salad
If you wish, you may cook your whole, unpeeled potatoes and whole, unpeeled carrots in the same pot. Just make sure to check on your carrots often so that they do not go beyond the al dente stage. I also add a few peeled cloves of garlic, onion and celery stalks to the potato pot for added flavor. Do not discard the vegetable broth. Either freeze it or use in the next day or two as your base for bird Vegetarian Vegetable Soup.
Assemble all of the ingredients in separate bowls. Immediately before serving, put all ingredients except olive oil and onion into a glass mixing bowl. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the unmixed salad and mix well. Serve your birds. Then add diced onion (whatever your taste buds think is good) a little more olive oil, mix and serve your humans. This is a very colorful salad until the beets stain the entire salad, so only mix up what will be eaten during the meal.
Just for Pele Beet Salad
inspired by Pele the WB Caique
1 part pickled beets cut in small pieces
1 part organic cooked beets cut in small pieces
2 – 3 parts shredded raw organic carrots
2 parts organic sweet eating apple cut in small pieces
1 part sun dried unsulphured organic Thompson raisins
2/3 part raw organic walnuts
small amount of cold pressed organic flax or cold pressed organic sunflower oil
Mix everything up in a glass bowl and enjoy!
Beets can be boiled or baked for any of these recipes. Just make sure to leave 2 inches of the stalk and the root end on when you cook them. Otherwise the beets will bleed and stain you and your kitchen even worse. Select beets on the smaller size with as smooth skin as possible. The freshest beets have the greenest leaves. Beet leaves, as long as they are not yellowish in color, can be fed to your birds raw, perhaps in a green salad. Beet leaves should be fed in moderation as they contain oxalic acid, which can damage kidneys.
Miscellaneous InformationThe other day I ran out of my store bought fruit and vegetable wash. We had a blizzard with 2 feet of snow and no way could I make it into town to get some more. My mother, 87 years old and a warehouse of good information, wanted to know what all the fuss was about! She said just mix 1 cup of water with 1 cup of vinegar and wash/soak your fruit in that and rinse! Thank you Mom!
Ever wonder what all those numbers on fruit and vegetable stickers mean? Me too, until the following was posted on the Parrolet Express list:
Conventionally grown = four numbers
Organically grown = five numbers prefaced by the number 9
Genetically engineered = five numbers prefaced by the number 8
Adhesive used is food grade, but not the stickers.