Chayote squash

[Hijinks]

I want to sing the praises of chayote squash. It is not on the food chart, but I bought one after reading on here that they're okay to feed. I grated it raw, and my skink went nuts over it. He always ate well, but I have never seen him pack his dinner away with such reckless abandon. He even tried to eat the plate. Last night I added a little bit of scrambled egg with shell, and he was eating the egg and the squash with the same enthusiasm.

So what I am wondering is whether this is a "feed daily" item or a "feed occasionally" item. Anyone know? http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/item/115718.html

[aggiegirl]

I haven't tried grating them but Pele' likes those too. I like the fact that they are small so there is less to prepare/waste. I'll have to try grating them next time!

[KyleWeiss]

I have a cheese grater for just this occasion.

I don't think chayote would be awful to feed daily, but until we're certain, I'd feed occasionally.

The "feed daily," part of the chart is such a confusing term, because there's nothing you really want to truly feed daily (as in every day). Which is why the "occasional," stuff is okay to mix in say, two days a week. The idea has always been variety, whether it's a mix of four things a day, one different thing (one meat, one veg) every day (which is what I do), etc.

So based upon that, if you want to make chayote a three-day-a-week choice, I'm sure that'd be just fine.

Personally, it's one of my favorite squash for MY dinner. It has a great flavor and I love the tougher outer skin. Gives a nice crunch.

KW

[Hijinks]

It's fun to find out their likes and dislikes. I have tried many things in the past month, and the only food that's been regularly spit out so far is collard greens. But it's not so revolting to him that he will try to avoid it if it is mixed in well. Acorn squash was also very well received. I have grated that too, but I also cut it into tiny bite sized chunks and he crunches on them individually. Oh heck yes, acorn squash. I can bake the rest of the squash and melt some butter and brown sugar inside and eat it myself.

[SailleSkinklover]

I was wondering, do you guys feed squash raw or steamed or baked? I tried some small chunks of raw zuccini, but my guy didn't like it all that much. I have some yellow squash that i want to try, and I just wonder about the best way to prep it or acorn squash for that matter? Thanks!
Saille

[Jenn]

The only thing I ever cook is the meat. All veggies and greens are served raw.

[KyleWeiss]

Rollie doesn't like collard greens either. I usually don't feed them because it doesn't seem to keep as long as other greens, but if it's on sale, sure, why not.

I also only feed raw veggies. Rollie won't even eat raw meat, prefers it sort of well-done, actually. He will eat snail and other crawlies though.

If you have a young skink, and you find some of the veggies a bit tough on the outside (chayote squash being one tough sucker sometimes), blanch them whole in boiling water for about 1 minute, not any longer. That will soften the outside of just about any veggie without sacrificing nutrients.

KW

[Jenn]

I'm growing collard greens so mine are always fresh and I don't have to worry about them going bad! I don't normally find that they get icky the quickly though. Dandilions on the other hand get icky really quickly.

[aggiegirl]

Jenn, you are right about the dandelions getting icky. I am growing them in my garden and they seem to be gross within an hour or two of picking them. I use them as my backup if my leafy greens get gross by the end of the week. There are several varieties, are they all edible? I only use one variety that was pointed out to me by a bluey owner at our local nursery.

[Hijinks]

I love local produce. I bought a huge bunch of collard greens for one dollar at a farmer's market nearly two weeks ago, and almost the entire bunch is still fresh! I bought some overpriced mustard greens at the grocery store and they were gross three days later. Of course mustard greens are gross to me no matter how fresh they are.

[NomadOfTheHills]

and the only food that's been regularly spit out so far is collard greens.

No wonder! Have you ever tried collared greens?

[KyleWeiss]

Collard greens are great if you cook them properly. Sweat-saute them in a large pan with some fatty bacon, onions and salt, and they're pretty good. They are also a remarkable leaf whole to wrap fish if you want to barbecue them.

KW