Sunday, March 4, 2012

Bird Cookbooks? Huh? I just buy Hartz Bird Seed!!!

In our quest to find balanced nutrition we as companion humans for our parrots go through many trials and tribulations and some can be quite extreme, the avian educated strive to find that perfect balance of protein, fats, carbs, fiber, vitamins, etc. and we often feed our parrot better food than we feed ourselves—heck, who does't enjoy an occasional Macdonalds, Wendy's, KFC or White Castle?!! Would we ever think of giving our beloved macaw, grey, ekkie, etc., a slider? Well... maybe just one bite but...

As many of you know, I love, love, love Bountiful Harvest from My Safe Bird Store, Kathie has truly hit a home-run in my opinion with the blend and I think it is very well thought out. I also love and adore the idea of Chop, I think it lends itself to flexiblity and we can formulate what our birds want and need, make a huge quantity, put it in the freezer and thaw as we need it. Granted, both of these foods or their concepts are from good friends of mine, Kathie Hahn and Patricia Sund, but even if they weren't, I would still believe in them and use them.

Okay...back to the main purpose of this entry, folks, we always strive for diversity in our lives and our birds deserve the same, and we as their companions are obligated to bring to the table a cornucopia of flavors, tastes, and textures. The internet can provide us with many, but some of us are still a bit old-fashioned in certain areas and we still like those bulky things called books and some of us when we think of books, we think of cookbooks!!! Ahhhhhh what interesting books they can be and many people collect them and I totally understand why—they're addicting!!! Again, I digress...

One night I was on Facebook—that horrible place!!! and I was discussing various parrot cookbooks that I believe in and use, one is actually a must for everyone that has parrots, that is The Healthy Bird Cookbook. It has been revised a couple of times and I consider it a great stepping stone for culinary adventures, I am lucky enough to have it in hardcover and now it is available in paperback and hmmmmmm...maybe if I get an e-reader or an iPad, I will have to have it there...


The second book I mentioned is Gourmet Bird Food Recipes and someone sorta gave me some flack about this book and now, since looking at some of the recipes, I had it coming, but folks, there are some really good ideas in there and if you use common sense, it is a nice addition to you avian library.


The third...well, this a new one for me and a couple of friends turned me onto it and I can't thank them enough for it, it is an outstanding book that supports a great organization that we all need to stand behind, Nourish to Flourish produced by Phoenix Landing. The first night I had it, I read it and I am very happy with it!! Now, I have to say there are two cookbooks every avian library must have, The Healthy Bird Cookbook and Nourish to Flourish, do not deny yourself or deny your companion parrots, these two are very strong books that are well written and jam-packed with great ideas! I cannot emphasize it enough!! You... Yeah you!! Go order these two on Amazon, now!!!!


Of course, we can all browse the internet but we all should have resources at our fingertips that show we still value the quality of a bound book, they are something of substance, a piece of a dying art (God! I hope not!) that will allow us to enrich our companion parrots lives as well as our own. We can benefit ourselves and our friends that are blessed to share lives with companion parrots, we can bring gifts of food to our friends that will hopefully encourage them to break out the cake pans, etc., and join in an art.

Nowadays, I am becoming more and more interested in avian nutrition, I never thought I would see that, but as I have cut down on my flock and have found a very special blue chicken I want to give my girls the best I can and the best variety. At Casa de Blue Feather Butt, we get sprouts on a daily basis, we get all sorts of goodies and the benefits are obvious, we have alert, curious, interactive birds that make life even more enjoyable than I could imagine, we have shiny feathers, bright eyes and healthy attitudes... Yes, diet can and does make a huge difference! Bon Appetit!