I tried something new...suggestions welcome :)

[lilspaz68]

I normally bought baby cereal from the store(2 boxes a week) for breakfast for the Boyos (Marley and Tucker), Theo (new and needs the supplementing), The Horde elderly ladies (3), the Punk old ladies (3), Pinn, Eggy and Lady, and Calla (PT). But my local store has hiked the price up to $4.29-$5.29 a box!...OUCH! I had people scouring the stores for me but I was starting to have to buy them again.

So today I dug out my little used Cuisinart Mini-Prep 3 cup food processor and decided to make my own.

I had 2 planned...brekkie of oatmeal, soymilk, banana, and a little vanilla extract, and a dinner one of oatmeal and veggies. I used what I had in my freezer of corn, added peas, frozen spinach, chopped up carrot, soymilk and oatmeal obviously. Thawed, softened the veggies inthe nuke, then processed them, mixed it into the oatmeal and it was a BIG hit!
Bronwen, Aki and Tucker just planted themselves

I froze a whole bunch in the freezer in little tinfoil loaf pans, pie plates etc...just to see what turns out best. I also froze the leftover veggie slurry. I think my best bet is to make up the veggie slurry, then thaw it and make up the oatmeal (1 min) to mix it in The brekkie cereal would have to be frozen already made up

Now I need suggestions, now that I know what I am doing, on what to put in, keeping in mind that I have to budget for a crappy job, lots of vet bills and 50 some rats. So don't get all exotic on me

It was suggested canned pumpkin, kale and fruit for another one...

so go ahead and suggest things that you think would be good since I am going to make this every weekend I think

 

[Dahlas]

I don't have any suggestions...but I will be eagerly watching this post.

 

[Moon]

My ladies love fresh bok choy and I know it's nutrient rich... and probably not too expensive since you work in china town.

 

[jorats]

That sounds pretty good, but I would think it could get pricey with the veggies?
Bok Choy is not that cheap, it usually sells at $1.99/lb.

 

[Moon]

Ah, but in china town a big lump of bok choy probably isn't as bad. Baby bok choy I think is a bit more on the costy side.

 

[lilspaz68]

I found I don't need to give anywhere near as much as just straight veggies...so the veggie mixes will last a long time Most of the rats still have tons in their bowl...live and learn on my part LOL

 

[NezumiNeko]

The pic is priceless.

My girls like mushroom, that's all I can think of right now. Banana's great.

 

[Fidget]

Sorry no suggestions but maybe it wouldn't cost a lot to add a bit of baby cereal to each batch? Can I order meals from you? Not for my kids - for me. Dang you're a good mom and your 'cooking' sounds yummy!

 

[PiedPiper]

Shelagh, that's an EXCELLENT idea! I make up a big batch of veggie slop for my doggies about once a month or so, freeze it in small containers and just defrost one when veggies is on the menu for dinner ... I don't know why, but it never occurred to me to feed it to the rats! :wallbang: (I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes ). I'll bet there's almost no limit to the kinds of vegetables you can include in your slurries (aside from the ones that are on the forbidden list). The ones I most commonly use in my veggie slops are: carrots, cooked sweet potatoes, broccoli, dark leafy greens such as collard greens, spinach or kale, celery and peas. I also have a look in the fridge and whatever looks a little wilty or like it's near the end of it's lifespan gets tossed into the food processor too. I moisten mine with a little bit of low-sodium, V-8 juice, give it a whirl and voila! Veggie slop and canned mackeral is one of my dog Oreo's favorite dinners!

Now you say you add a bit of oatmeal to yours for the rats? I think I'm going to give it a try! :wink2: Great idea! Thanks for posting it!

 

[lilspaz68]

Dang....sweet potatoes!! Always a good one and a fav! for me buying veggies for EVERYONE could be a real hassle and I would have to buy multiple different items sometimes, and the lower ranked, slower moving rats often get the less choice items...I always felt bad LOL

Now I can just throw in a little of each, etc...any ideas on the herbs I can use?

 

[jorats]

Ah, but in china town a big lump of bok choy probably isn't as bad. Baby bok choy I think is a bit more on the costy side.

Arg... I keep forgetting the variety you guys have.
I can't really find baby bok choy here, well, not in my Superstore anyway, just the regular full grown adult. lol

 

[lilspaz68]

Dang....sweet potatoes!! Always a good one and a fav! for me buying veggies for EVERYONE could be a real hassle and I would have to buy multiple different items sometimes, and the lower ranked, slower moving rats often get the less choice items...I always felt bad LOL

Now I can just throw in a little of each, etc...any ideas on the herbs I can use?

Oh Gina, you can mix it with rice too...I just got used to the breakfast with the baby cereal I used oatmeal for the dinner, plus its fast.

 

[PiedPiper]

Hmmmm ... herbs - parsley immediately comes to mind `cuz I`ll often throw it in when I`m making it for the doggies. But, I suppose we could throw almost anything in ... although, I probably wouldn`t use chives. I`m assuming you mean fresh herbs, Shelagh. (for some reason the question mark isn`t working on my keyboard - must`ve hit a command key by mistake or something :roll: ). And yeah, rice is a good idea!