Squirrel Block Recipes?

[itsimplyrachel]

Help? I can afford to make my own and get the HHB's vitamins because I get a good hook up working at a discount grocery. I have a pretty good one that I think is the HHB's regular adult block from a year ago, but I'm trying to figure out how to make them for my picky eater. Thanks!

[SammysMom]

Maybe change which nuts etc to make it more appealing to your squirrel?
Homemade Squirrel Block Recipe
(Revised 11/01/11)
Makes approximately a 4-week supply for a 1-pound squirrel.

Preheat oven to 205 degrees Fahrenheit

Dry ingredients:
80 g Pure Whey Protein Isolate for adult formula (for growth formula, use 160 g).
130 g finely ground nuts (any kind; peanuts, pecans, or almonds work well)
1/3 cup wheat flour (optional)
1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1 package (45 g) Henry's Healthy Vita-Mins*

Wet ingredients:
1 whole egg
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract (optional)
1/2 cup water, or a little more, as needed (this is for growth formula only; do not add water to the adult formula unless the dough is too dry when mixed)

Instructions:
Place dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

Add all the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a fork until dough sticks together. It will be fairly dry, like pie crust dough. Wearing gloves or with your bare hands (oiled), press the dough down and then start to knead it. Once the dough forms a ball, place it onto a lightly greased surface and knead a few more times until smooth and uniform in color. Roll dough out into a roll or flatten into a square, and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. While still warm, cut into 60 pieces with a sharp knife

Allow the blocks to cool for at least 2 hours. Then place in zip-lock bags and store them in the fridge or freezer. They will keep in the fridge for several weeks. They will keep in the freezer for several months (unopened and with as much air as possible removed from the bag before sealing). Some squirrels enjoy eating them cold or frozen, but you can also put a cold block into the microwave for about 5-10 seconds to warm it up.

Feed 1-3 per day. Different squirrels will have different energy requirements.

[Kelbug]

SammysMom,
I need to place an order but your recipe calls for:
1 package (45 g) Henry's Healthy Vita-Mins*

The only options I see on the website are for:
1-month supply (33g) $5.99
Bulk (200g) $24.99

Is the 45g discontinued?

Kelly

[SammysMom]

Oh dear i am not sure. I did always buy the large one for multiple batches though. You could call and they will tell you. They are very helpful!

[acorniv]

Dry ingredients:
80 g Pure Whey Protein Isolate for adult formula (for growth formula, use 160 g).
130 g finely ground nuts (any kind; peanuts, pecans, or almonds work well)
1/3 cup wheat flour (optional)
1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1 package (45 g) Henry's Healthy Vita-Mins*

Wet ingredients:
1 whole egg
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract (optional)
1/2 cup water, or a little more, as needed (this is for growth formula only; do not add water to the adult formula unless the dough is too dry when mixed)

Mokus loved HHB until the last batch, but he has refused to eat a single block from that bag. He either leaves them in the dish or buries them in his tray of dirt. I'm awaiting a replacement bag, and meanwhile have been winging it. The past few days, I gave him ( along with veggies and fruit and his one nut per day) flax, mixed with a little raw almond butter and some mealworms, and rolled in Fox Valley weaning mix, with a bit of parrot vitamins sprinkled on. I chose avian because they are also prone to MBD and so get a lot of minerals in their vitamins.

Today I went shopping and made him block without benefit of this recipe . I'm surprised by how close I got it though - just shopping for things I thought would be healthy, and that he would eat. I didn't have whey protein so used Fox Valley weaning formula powder instead, plus a cereal made with whole grain wheat flour and barley, and fortified with the usual vitamins and minerals found in cereals. It had a little salt but no sugar or other sweetener. I added wheat germ, finely ground pecans, an egg, and avian vitamins. I added warm water until the consistancy seemed right.

I got about 80-90 blocks for 10.00. I only intended to make about half that many, but got carried away, LOL. I intend to feed these only until the block comes, because I'm not sure I didn't leave something important out, but over all, I was pleased, and it took almost no time to make.

I also make blocks ( I call them cookies) for my parrot. He refused to eat parrot mix with any regularity for decades. I ground up his feed and mix it with finely chopped vegetables an egg and apple juice and he gobbles them down now. I roll the dough into logs and freeze them before baking, and then slice and bake like cookies a couple of weeks worth at the time. Next batch of squirrel block, I'll do them the same way, because I thought the squirrel block came out a bit dry and I wonder how much drier they'll be after a stint in the freezer.

[CrazySquirrelLady]

can anyone provide non metric measurements for this recipe? Thanks.

also was wondering if regular flour can be substituted for wheat flour? Does wheat flour mean whole wheat flour or just flour made from wheat?


Thanks I got to cook up a batch for the boys.

Also wondering if a regular batch would go into a 13x9 pan or will it need to be bigger pan? thanks!

I have Henry's vitamins, but it says 33 grams on the little package I have not 45 grams. Is the little package the right one?

boys are HUNGRY out of blocks for a few days. I can mix up a big batch i have ingredients bought.

[farrelli]

By PM request:

80g = 2.8 oz or 1/3 cups
160g = 5.6 oz or 2/3 cups
130g = 4.6 oz or a hair more than 1/2 cups

Did I miss any?

[farrelli]

Oh,

33g = .14 cups or 1.2 oz
45g = .2 cups or 1.6 oz

[CrazySquirrelLady]

NOPE! Thank you oh resident genius of TSB.... FARELLI....

[astra]

I have Henry's vitamins, but it says 33 grams on the little package I have not 45 grams. Is the little package the right one?

45g from the old recipe.
Now it is 33 g per one batch

[lilidukes]

I make blocks based on Leighs recipe. Weighing it out in grams on your baby scale is important to assure the best results. I opt out with the wheat flour I've found it makes mine to dry and they tend to crumble a lot. After many batches and trial and err my kids like only chopped pecans and shaved almonds for my nuts.

Weighing really is necessary.

[CrazySquirrelLady]

OK, so I made a batch of blocks... did not turn out too good.

Although I used much less than 1/2 cup water, the wet ingredients were too much, and I got a soupy mess. It was the consistency of cake batter.

I went ahead and put it in a greased glass 13x 9 pan in the oven at 350 degrees.

Welll it did not rise up at all. It was about 1/4 inch thick. After 20 minutes in the oven, the sides of the blocks rose up out of the pan and it looked as if it was trying to crawl out of the pan.

Since I saw browning, out the blocks came. If I had let it go any longer it would have burned.

So I cut up the blocks, they look terrible. I did sneak in 2 tsp of honey...

Anyways they greys are eating them, so I guess they taste better than they look...???

what did I do wrong? help

[CrazySquirrelLady]

I make blocks based on Leighs recipe. Weighing it out in grams on your baby scale is important to assure the best results. I opt out with the wheat flour I've found it makes mine to dry and they tend to crumble a lot. After many batches and trial and err my kids like only chopped pecans and shaved almonds for my nuts.

Weighing really is necessary.

oh yeah, I do have a baby scale... I forgot about that..... !!! Still since the ingredients were converted, I think I used the right amounts.

guess it is back to the drawing board? thanks for the help ya'll! HUGS

[SammysMom]

Were you making growth formula? There is almost no liquid in them so how on Earth id you get soup? Did you forget the flour?

[SammysMom]

You have to weigh the ingredients. Measuring weight vs volume is totally different. Think about a pound of feathers vs a pound of lead.

[astra]

the recipe says not to add water for adult formula (sorry, are you doing growth or adult formula?).
However, depending on the altitude and flour and all that, sometimes, some water is needed for the adult formula, but it should be added very very carefully so as not to put too much - because what people tend not to be aware of is that as you start kneading it, the ground nuts start to emit their own oil that adds extra moisture to the batter.
So, add water very, very carefully, a little bit at a time.

Also, if you added honey - that could have messed up the balance of the ingredients, too. Sugar content in recipes can affect the overall consistency, as well as the 'rising' aspect.
Since it was honey - liquid - then, you should have cut down on water....

don't worry, you will figure it out

[CrazySquirrelLady]

i was making the growth formula, so I did the following [DO NOT USE THE FOLLOWING RECIPE IN THIS POST AS IT FAILED ME PEOPLE, THIS IS FOR EXPLAINING WHAT I DID WRONG ONLY]

wet
1/3 cup water
1 egg
2 tsp honey
vanilla

dry
2/3 cup whey protein
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup self rising flour
1 pkg vitamins

did not use the baking powder since i used the self rising flour. was i supposed to use whole wheat flour maybe? not sure

it made a cake batter consistency, poured into greased glass 13x9 pan at 325 for maybe 20 minutes.....

it was flat and getting brown and so I took it out.

the boys are eating it [except for jeb the picky man


so what all did i do wrong.. lol. i have more ingredients, can try try again,

i cut back on the water from 1/2 cup to 1/3 cup ???

[CrazySquirrelLady]

Were you making growth formula? There is almost no liquid in them so how on Earth id you get soup? Did you forget the flour?

oh ! when i read the post above, it sez just the opposite..... ??

i am doing the growth formula, but thefirst recipe post above sez to put the water in the growth formula.... i am confused... [shock shock]

[SammysMom]

I meant that in the adult ones there is almost no water. I think the amounts of dry ingredients is wrong. You have to use weights not volume.

[astra]

CSL, honestly, do not remember ever seeing this version of the recipe.
Maybe, it did exist sometime ago, but... have never seen it.

I use the recipe SammysMom posted in her post #2.

I use adult formula, but find that I do need extra liquids sometimes.
Once i added an extra egg for that. The other time I just added very little water. I added it as I was mixing and kneading to make sure I don't over water it.
I never used honey or any other sweetener.

I do not use wheat flour or anything wheat (for my own reasons).
I used whole grain buckwheat flour - worked just fine for me (may not work for other squirrels).
Also, it is suggested that you can use oat bran instead of flour - adds more fiber.

So far, as long as I stuck to the recipe that SM posted - knock on wood (b/c you never know), they always came out ok.

I find that almonds are the most bland nuts.
Ground pecans seem to be most flavourful (I would assume that walnuts will have much flavour, too, but never tried them).
At one point I used natural almond butter (and even pb - but all natural etc) instead of the ground nuts, but I had to adjust the remaining liquid and other ingredients.

PS even if the growth formula asks for water - add it carefully. In baking there are a lot of factors that may affect the texture (even if all people use the same recipe), altitude has a lot to do with it.
So, always monitor the consistency - you do not want your batter to be crumbling and not sticking together, but you don't want to be able to 'pour' it either.
It should be a fairly stiff batter that you can shape into a log, that won't crumble, but won't be too soft to hold itself.
If you followed the recipe and added water just as the recipe calls for it, but your batter is coming out too soft - add some flour/bran (BUT ever so slightly - more by dusting and kneading, dusting some more and kneading until you reach the desired consistency).
Just remember to adjust that when you make them the next time.