Question regarding Val's diet

I am going to try Val's Green Diet...any advice? I am concerned about finding a good selection of fruit/veggies in my local supermarket....and about quantity since I am only feeding 7 gliders. Do you ever freeze a mixture and use it the next week?

It will feed seven pretty easily but since freezing it is fine I wouldn't worry. I froze my last batch which made 32 ice cubes and each cube has about 4 tsp.

Try to get a lot of seasonal fruits and veggies, cut them up, and freeze them so that variety is not an issue. With Val's I have tried a lot of new fruits and veggies and even herbs too so my best advice would be to go ahead and buy those odd items.

If your going to freeze it use ice cube trays or else it might freeze solid depending on what you add.

i'm not familiar with that diet, but i do know many of the owners who will make large batches of their diet and freeze for use in the coming weeks.

personally i only feed fresh fruits and veggies (thats a lie i use mostly frozen veggies becuase i am a little lazy)

Great idea, thanks - I will try freezing the veggies/fruit in cubes as well. I fed all fresh last night, and they didn't seem to be impressed. It was mostly new fruit/veggies, so maybe that's why. I think I'll keep the same mix tonight and add a little familiarity :o) I just want them to not have a boring diet.

Gliders do seem to go through transition phases when their staple is changed. When I switched to Val's it took them about two weeks to get settled and then they just fell in love with it. I also experience the same thing on any diet when I serve a new fruit or vegetable, they tend to ignore it until the second or third time that I serve it.

I have a new question....maybe someone else is having this problem. My gliders now LOVE the staple part of VGV diet. However, they are not eating their veggies. I have tried all sorts of veggies...raw, cooked, mixed with the staple...and they are not eating them. So...I was wondering if I could add more veggie to the staple to make sure they are getting some. If so, which would be best to add?

What do you think? Any other suggestions? Thanks for any help you can give!

Keep offering them. Sometimes mine won't eat veggies, or not very much, and others they practically lick the plate clean. You don't have to go crazy with tons of "new" veggies, if that is keeping them "off". I have a basic mix of veggies that always gets used (its the frozen bag of mixed veggies), then I add stuff to it. Usually it's some combination of jicama, bell pepper, cucumber, squash, mushrooms, sweet potato, asparagus, broccoli, snow peas or cabbage. There are others, but this is mostly what happens.

I'm offering veggies they usually like, but now want no part of. I have 3 frozen mixes (I make myself) and mix the 9-10 veggies a bit different each night. They aren't filling up on fruit, since they only get the 1/2 T each night. If they are getting what they need without eating the veggies, I wouldn't be so concerned, but the veggies are an important part.

They are getting some veggies in their staple mix. That might be all they are needing at this time. Don't stress over it. Continue to offer the veggies. They will cycle back around to eating them. If you are terribly worried, then try using the Knudsen's Very Veggie juice in your staple mix next time you mix it up.

Remember, you are using alfalfa and collard greens within the mix. If you are adding nopales or okra, then you are adding more veggies. The staple mix itsself has the protein, fruits and veggies right in it, so there is no need to stress if they are not eating their fresh veggies or fruits for a bit. Make your next batch of staple mix differently and you will likely see some changes.

Sounds good.....thanks!

I read somewhere that VAL recently updated her diet, where can i get the new updated version as I am considering switching to it? And since I will most likely freeze it, do i put it in the their dish frozen and it unthaw quickly?

I am not sure if Val updated her diet but I am using the one posted on here.

If you freeze it in Ice Cube tray's it takes about 20 minutes to thaw them out completely.

I can say this for this diet..I had a few very very fussy gliders who would not eat certain veggies and fruits and since switching they eat every thing in the dish.

One thing I also did a few times for variation is I added a banana to the mix. My gliders do not eat them if I cut them up in the dish but they loved this a lot. I also added in some all natural dried coconut to it. I have to say I am loving the things you can add to this to switch it up from time to time. I do make the original recipe most of the time but it sure is fun to add in some other yummy items to it.

Let us know if you try it and how it goes please.

The last update to the diet was made in Dec. 2011.
It is listed here. I always update the original post here on TSS, so this is the place to get the most up-to-date information. Here is the thread with the current recipe.
https://thesweetspot.forumotion.net/t86-val-s-green-variety-diet

There is a discussion in that thread about how to serve the frozen portion.

Thank you Val! As a new member I am still learning how to navigate.

Mine didn't need an adjustment period. LOL. They ate everything and asked for me. I wonder sometimes if I have gliders or mini pigs.