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Post by katt on Feb 23, 2011 4:55:42 GMT -5
So I went to the Asian Market today on a bit of a whim. Jackie talked about finding Pork heart there and I though ah why not look again. In the past they have been very inconsistent about organs. I would find a thing of pork liver in a pile of chicken feet in an unlabeled section of the meats. But never like a Pork Liver Section. Well today guess what?! They had Pork Liver, AND pork heart! AND pork side which I now know to be uncured bacon which is good for the fat content! AND THEN they had ducks that were (unlike the ones at the grocery store I go to) smallish. They are like the size of med chickens so they didn't cost like $35 for a whole duck. They cost $20 for a duckling as big as a chicken! AND THEEEN!!!! I found WHOLE RABBIT!!!!!! It was expensive, but I have Never seen it there! I think I have been missing it this whole time! It was all curled up and fetus like kind of in a dark corner of the freezer behind the pork chitterlings. ;D I am sooo excited! Foods Koda can eat!!!! Yaaaay! AND ON TOP OF THAT!!!! When I checked out the girl talked to me (normally they don't talk to you much there, a big language barrier I think). And the girl told me I should be able to ask the butchers there for organs since I guess they actually clean some of the animals there! Which I never knew! *happy dance* Foods Koda can eat!!!! YAAAY!!!! Today was a good meat day! lol Oh and what is the word on pork: chitterlings and uteries and brains and snouts? Good, bad, ok? I can get all of that there. As well as whole fresh pigs feet, and pork hock. I can aslo get boar head but that is WAY too big. No deep freezer.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2011 4:59:16 GMT -5
Just Jackie told you? What about me telling you too! *would insert laughing emoticon but one is not showing up for some reason anymore for me* I love my asian market - I can find all of those things here plus about a gazillion odd and tantalizing offerings.
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Post by katt on Feb 23, 2011 5:14:46 GMT -5
Just Jackie told you? What about me telling you too! *would insert laughing emoticon but one is not showing up for some reason anymore for me* I love my asian market - I can find all of those things here plus about a gazillion odd and tantalizing offerings. And I told YOU - in the past, it has been very very inconsistent finding things there. Usually all they have is an overabundance of pork uteries and chicken parts. On occasion I will find the odd pork organ (got lucky enough to get kidney once), or other random meat, but most of the time they don't have much. It has been really hit and miss with them. It looks like they reorganized a bit though as the pork parts now have their own labeled places! Before there would be like a labels row of pork uteries, with 2 pork hearts IF I was lucky, mixed in with the uteries. Or an unlabeled row of chicken parts...with a random pork liver. But never very much and never consistently. Sometimes they had nothing. Today they had EVERYTHING!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2011 5:23:13 GMT -5
Yes, I do recall that inspired bit of conversation. So Jackie can convince you to look again, but not me? Completely wrong, considering I get my pork heart from my market also. It's really nice when they have that much variety...mine has two windows full of pork hocks, kidney, spleen, liver, hock, brains, and gut.
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Post by katt on Feb 23, 2011 5:25:41 GMT -5
WELL LUCKY YOU!!!! hahaha And I have continued to look on occasion. I had looked not too long before we talked about it. Again hit and miss with them. And Jackie didn't do any persuading, she just mentioned it casually. Maybe you should play more hard to get? ;D
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2011 5:28:43 GMT -5
What are you implying, girl?! You best watch it!
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Post by Sherry on Feb 23, 2011 17:58:55 GMT -5
;D Great you've been able to find all that stuff there, katt. And yes, all good things, as long as no curing, etc- you know the routine
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2011 18:40:37 GMT -5
Sweet score! I love my Asian market for the same reason, although I'm still too cheap to buy the duck or rabbit unless it's on sale. I like to cut the snouts into short & skinny strips (with my Ulu ;D), they're really thick and fatty, but stripped up they makes for a pretty good chew toy/snack. Chitterlings are intestine, pretty much smooth muscle, my kids weren't impressed the one time we tried them. Same thing with uteri (don't count as an organ since it's the ovaries that do the secreting), just another smooth muscle. I found them a PITA to cut up, they're slimy and squishy but tough in a weird stringy way, and my kids didn't like them either. I figure I have enough variety I don't need to push muscles they don't like and I don't like handling, but your kids might enjoy it! I've never tried brain since it's on the spendy side, I vaguely remember reading somewhere that it kind of works as a fat & secreting organ source but it's not as nutrient dense as other organs or fattier meats. I could be wrong with that, I wish I could remember where I read it.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2011 20:12:40 GMT -5
Hehe! Glad you found yummy stuff for your boys. Brain is an awesome source for taurine.
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Post by Sherry on Feb 23, 2011 22:59:26 GMT -5
Actually- the brain contains most of what your ferret will ever need Best part of the body for them!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2011 0:33:19 GMT -5
I need to get some of that!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2011 7:33:25 GMT -5
Good to know! I will update my mental database ;D
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Post by goingpostal on Feb 24, 2011 9:04:46 GMT -5
Lucky! I can't buy any of that stuff around here, you did hit the jackpot! It's funny how excited we get over finding whole dead things or organs though.
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Post by katt on Feb 24, 2011 15:38:20 GMT -5
It was funny too because the girl actually talked to me and she was like what are you cooking. My reply "Actually, it's for my ferrets." Her: *dead stare and stops mid scanning items* "Oh..." Me:" They are on a raw diet - they are carnivores like cats and it is much healtheri for them." Her: *stares and resumes scanning items without saying much* Then I asked her if the duck was cleaned or still had it's organs and she said she believed it was all cleaned and told me I could ask a few days in advance for cheap organs at their meat department. BUT when I started chopping up the duck...there were organs in there!!!!! ;D Yaay! So now I actually have too much organ meat and not enough muscle meat! That is a FIRST! I have in my freezer various mixes of: chopped whole duck organs included (the meat was much darker than I expected I was surprised - thought it was more like chicken lol), chopped whole rabbit organs included, pork heart, pork liver, pork meat, beef heart, veal liver, goat meat chunks with bones in (they are big but chopped so they can eat parts of them). Then I have some mice in the growing bin getting fat. So I actually need to filter in some more muscle meat! I think I will get some turkey necks and some more pork, ground buffalo, and maybe some chicken breast. Oh yes, I also have lamb chunks (they will not touch), and bags and bags of chicken hearts. Also, I will mix in various commercial ground meats too, and some chicken feet I got from the store that sells commercial ground, freeze dried raw (Duck Duck Goose, Lamb), and the occasional whole rat. I am finally getting some balanced variety back into their diet. *cries tears of joy* ALSO I solved my pumpkin problem! I can get huge cans of pumpkin on sale for really cheap. But the cans are soo big that usually even between my iguana and the ferrets, I don't use it all up before it gets old. SO what I did was when I prepared the food baggies last night, I put a few tablespoons of pumpkin, and a big pinch of flax in each baggie. Then I mushed it all up together so the meat was all lightly coated in pumpkin and flax. This way they get some fiber with every meal, but it is not just frozen pumpkin (I could not get frozen pumpkin out of the ice cube tray - rock solid) and IF the pumpkin gets all weird textured they won't notice it bc it isn't like one chunk it is a light coat over all of the meat. And the pumpkin gets used up before it goes bad. I used almsot the entire can and had just enough left over for a few meals for my iguana. I am very pleased right now. - I tested this method out prior to preparing all of my new meats and they seemed to like it and eat it jsut fine with the frozen pumpkin on it.
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Post by katt on Feb 24, 2011 15:40:37 GMT -5
BTW Rabbit bones are TOUGH! And the duck wasn't thawed enough, so it was some hard chopping last night. lol
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