Many people are sad to hear about Beak Appetie’s exit from the bird food market. We would love to know what you liked about the product so that we can work on something that your birds will like as a replacement. Some people, especially budgie owners, say that their birds liked the smaller grains and the gloppy texture. That is different from most of the Good Stuff™ cook mixes, which have the more defined texture of the larger individual grains. I favor soaking and then cooking grains for only a short period of time, so the texture stays a little more firm and natural, similar to the texture of sprouted grains. Some people say their birds love the couscous and like an “instant,” quick-cook variety.
There are some ingredients that I can’t use based on organic availability or my own beliefs in what birds should eat. I won’t use peanuts or soy. I don’t want to use pre-cooked or par-cooked ingredients. Some of our client birds can’t have much corn, if any at all, so I will avoid that. I won’t use nutmeg, onions or white potatoes.
I use whole grain pastas, and prefer not to use wheat, so I am on a search for an alternative grain couscous that’s organic and whole grain.
So 1.) We will have a new cooked mix with small grains and ,hopefully, a whole-grain couscous.
2) We will present a new cooking mix that is just grains, brown rice and lentils that cook quickly. It won’t come with add ins, but instructions to add your own finely-chopped vegetables and/or sprouts after the grain mix is cooked.
Look for these items by the first of the year. We will be testing recipes over the next month.
14 Comments
My parrots will especially miss Nuts for Alfredo. They loved the flavor and what I loved about it was that it was instant allowing me to make a little bit fresh every morning. I just put about 1 tbsp in a bowl, guestimated the water, and microwaved it with frozen birdy bread and organic frozen veggies. VOILA! all was done and I could just serve it to them after it cooled. Always got a smile out of me when my Parrotlet did a nose dive into the dish! She LOVES Nuts for Alfredo and has been eating it for years.
Yes, we are trying to find an instant, organic, non-wheat couscous and have had absolutely no luck. Many of our customer’s birds seem to be wheat or corn sensitive, so we try to accommodate that. The Nuts for Alfredo had cheese powder for flavor and don’t think it’s something I can get organically, either. I may be able to something with nutritional yeast for flavor — vegans use that for a cheese-like flavor, but it may be costly. I’ll experiment, crunch numbers and weigh nutrition benefits.
In the mean time, you can pick up instant couscous at any grocery store, and some low (or no) sodium vegetable broth. With the instant couscous, you add boiling water (or broth) and fluff after 5 minutes). Mix in your frozen or fresh veggies and that will be a fairly close approximation on your own. I’ll continue to look for organic whole grain options!
We have made a new Quinoa and Nut mix that cooks in 20 minutes without soaking first. That should be up on our site soon. My little birds really like the small bits.
My 18 year old lovebird really loved Nuts for Alfredo by Beak Appetit. See a video of him eating this favorite food: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1234330612223&ref=mf
I have trouble getting him to sometimes, but he truly enjoys his Nuts for Alfredo. I think he loves the flavor and texture of the mix.
I think small birds will love the quinoa-based mix w came up with. It will be posted on our website later on this week! It has red and white quinoa, to appeal visually, not just taste-wise.
Still looking for a spelt couscous! I did get some made from wheat to experiment with, because so many birds miss their Nuts for Alfredo.
LOVE the video, Jill. What a cutie!
i am one mylast batch of beak appetit ginger mix you cook and he loves it need something similiar for him
We are testing two couscous mixes, one sweet, one savory, that might be good for your bird. The couscous in it is whole wheat, and isn’t as processed as an instant variety. I would rather birds have as unprocesssed a diet as possible for better nutrition. In the mean time, your bird may like our new ABCs for Birdie or Quinoa Nut Crunch. Both have smaller grains than our original cook mixes. I’ll post when our new couscous mixes are available. It may be a few weeks to get responses back from our test subjects.
My 11 year old cockatiel has enjoyed his Beak Appetit Cream of Tweet, Cinnamon Sunrise and Veggie Delight for many years. What a shock and disappointment that BA went out of business.
Both your mixes look good but #1, I am allergic to almonds and cannot have them in the house and #2, my bird won’t go near ANYTHING with garlic!
Thank you for your work; will continue to check back to see what else you may offer in the future.
My Parrotlets are NOT eating anything I have tried, the way they use to eat the Beak App veggie delight for small birds! I have 3/4 full dishes after breakfast where I use to pull them out empty! HELP!!!!
I tried to make a similar mix…no success, not sure wheat I am doing wrong. But they KNOW it is not Beak Appetite!
I have food sensitivities and allergies, too. Sorry about the almonds. So many birds like them. I do have a cook mix with whole wheat couscous that is being tested by some of our customers as I write this. It will have cahsews instead of almonds and no garlic.
I have never bought the Veggie Delight. But it was an “instant” mix which means the grains and couscous were pre-processed. The processing takes out much of the nutrition. I can’t, with good conscience, make a mix that is pre-processed enough to be “instant”. But I will be working on a couple new mixes in the future that may be higher in veggie content.
I have seen that NutsOnline.com has a freeze-dried veggie mix (Simply Organic Mixed Veggies) and some other dried veggies that may be a good substitutes if you mix it with some couscous and oatmeal.
I have a “special-needs” rescue conure with only a lower beak. She loves the Nuts for Alfredo and actually screams for it at about 6am every day. I cook up little bits and mix it with some Harrison’s Bird Mash and she’s got a terrific breakfast. I hope someone can come up with an acceptable substitute because this bird knows when I try to fake her out with something else.
Hi, Pam!
I have a good friend that has a spunky little quaker with no top beak. She also has a macaw with a seriously deformed beak. I know she uses her Magic Bullet to grind up sprouts and veggies very finely. She uses the Harrison’s Mash, too. They both do quite well. My heart goes out to your conure (I have a nanday) and I hope she is doing well!
The flavor of Nuts for Alfredo is not one that I can get very close to with our standards. Cheese Powder has salt and I don’t like to add salt to a bird’s diet. I thought of perhaps nutritional yeast, like vegetarians use for a cheese flavor substitute, but nutritional yeast can act as an inhibitor to calcium because of the high phosphorus levels. I think spices like celery seed and cilantro will give the mixes flavor and not compromise other nutrients. Look for our two couscous mixes out very soon. They will be made from a whole wheat couscous, so will take a bit longer to cook than the Nuts for Alfredo, but I think birds will appreciate at least the familiarity of the texture. Our ABCs for Birdie might be a good texture for your conure, too! It’s kinda gloppy with tiny grains, too.
Scritches to the little rescue.
Our Red Belly Parrot is REALLY going to miss the Veggie Delight! He really liked the mix of veggies with the couscous!
My Beepers loves cream of tweet I tried
tried a brand called crazy corn and he stuck his beak up in the air. I am sorry beak Appetite went out of business. If you could make something in this line you will make alot of birds happy.