By Barbara Rosario

Quinoa (pronounced Keen-Wa or Kee-no’ah) is a natural whole grain with ancient origins. It is know for building strength and endurance It is a high source of protein, B Vitamins, iron, fiber, calcium and phosphorus. It is grown high in the Andes of South America and dates back to the Incas. Quinoa is referred to as the "Mother Grain". It contains more high protein than any other grain. The National Academy of Sciences calls it "one of the best sources of protein in the vegetable kingdom". Quinoa is a complete protein. It provides an essential amino acid balance close to the ideal set by the United States Food & Agricultural Organization. Quinoa is light and easy to digest. It is easy to cook and can also be spouted. It is high in protein and low in fat and contains calcium and iron.

To prepare: Rinse thoroughly 1/4 cup Quinoa in a hand strainer. After rinsing, immediately dump into a small saucepan, there is no need to let it drain. To this add 3/4-cup water. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to simmer or low. Cook 14-15 minutes then let stand for about 15 minutes.

Recipe:

Place the cooked Quinoa in a large mixing bowl. To this, add 1 cup nestling food (Orlux, CeeDee or the like) or dried bread crumbs or half nestling and half, mix, ½ cup 7 to 9 grain cereal, 2 heaping Tablespoons "All Bran" cereal (made by Kellogg), 2 heaping Tablespoons apples/raspberry granola or plain granola (do not use granola that have nuts or coconut in them), 2 heaping Tablespoons textured vegetable protein and 2 heaping Tablespoons spoon size "Shredded Wheat. Mix all ingredients well. When the mixture is thoroughly mixed it should hold together in your had after it is squeezed like malleable soil.

Please note: Each of the following has been ground in either a small coffee grinder or a food processor, 7 to 9 grain cereal, "All Bran" cereal, granola, Shredded Wheat" biscuits and textured vegetable protein. When buying the granola I would suggest always smelling it first to make sure that it is not stale. The textured vegetable protein and the granola I store in the freezer until needed in plastic zip-lock freezer storage bags. The other ingredients I store in zip-lock bags on the self.

The extra can be frozen until needed. I usually place the amount that can be used in 2 days in a zip lock bag and freeze it. This mixture thaws very quickly, The above receipt will make up about 3 quarts of nestling food. All the ingredients, except for the nestling food mix, I am able to obtain locally at a grocery store. Some areas you may have to go to a Health Food store to obtain the Quinoa and the textured vegetable protein. After the birds are completely thorough the moult I leave out the textured vegetable protein. For the 2 heaping tablespoons of vegetable protein I substitute 2 more heaping tablespoons of the Granola, for a total of 4.

You can use dried bread crumbs in place of the nestling food, but I use half and half and find that works well. I go to my local bread outlet store where I can pick up loaves of bread at about 1/3 the cost in the grocery store. I always select multi-grain breads. Roman Meal puts out a great one that has among its ingredients are sunflower seed & poppy. It is a heavy bread and smells wonderful. I cut it up into to cubes for drying. Once dry, I throw the cubes into my food processor to grid it down to fine crumb size.

When I am ready to feed the birds this mixture I add freshly rinsed and thoroughly drained sprouted seed, about 50:50

It is best to purchase a seed mix that is specifically for soaking/sprouting as it is usually made from clean seeds and contains no fillers. The methods of soaking or sprouting seeds as many and varied as the number of soft food recipes, but the following is how I do it.

1. I use wide mouth canning jars where I have replaced the "seal" with a cut piece of "plastic canvas". Plastic canvas is used in cross-stitching crafts and can be purchased at places like Walmart. It comes in different gauges so make sure that you get a gauge that will allow the water to drain well from the jar. I soak the seed mixture for about 2 hours and feel that it is not necessary to soak overnight and think this can lead to problems if left too long to soak. Here is where there is a learning curve to discover how much seed to soak as everyone will be different due to the number of birds they have. Never fill the jar the entire full as the seed mixture will swell and about double in amount due to soaking.

2. After the two hours, I drain the jar and then refill with clean water. Using a pet food can cover, I place this over the top of the jar (jar ring and canvas still in place) and agitate the seed and water. I do this several times then drain the water by inverting the jar (without cover) and letting it balance on the edge of the jar ring. The jar is then place on it side on a towel with the top partly hanging over the sink as it will lose a bit more water in this position.

3. The following morning I rinse again in the same manner as above and set on the towel again. During cooler weather the seed will take 48 hours to sprout, however, in warmer weather it only takes 24 hours here. So watch your seeds and if sprouted well enough in 24 hours move to step 4 without doing step 3.

4. After the seeds just start to sprout I fill a bowl with clean water to which I have added some "Vanodine". I let the seed soak in a sieve in this solution for a few minutes. After this soak the seed mixture is rinsed thoroughly with running cold water.

5. Allow sieved seed to drain thoroughly before using. To achieve this fold a paper towel in quarter and place between on the lip between the two sinks if you have a double sink. Place the seed and sieve on the paper towel and allow the towel to act as a wick to draw the water from the seed. After the paper towel quits dripping place the sieve and seed on a clean dry paper towel. Then place this in a bowel where you have placed an old folded wash cloth. Let stand for a few minutes and then the seeds are ready to use. Your will get to where you will know how much seed you will need per day for your birds. However if at first you have more seed that what you can use that day be sure to return the unused seed to the jar and refrigerate following steps 4 and 5 the following day. I would not use the sprouted seed past two days so you would need to have another batch in the works. Also do not allow the seed to sprout to far as the nutrient value goes down and the sprouts become less attractive to the birds.

6. Your soft food may then be mixed into soaked seed.

7. Sprouting equipment must be thoroughly cleaned between use.

8. Reject seed that smells off at any stage or develops a mold

If you have any questions, feel free to email me.