Mushrooms and wheat berries

At the farmers' market this weekend, we snapped up the scant local food available this early (late?) in the season -- namely: mushrooms and onions. I was looking for something different to do with them, when I found a recipe I could adapt from the recent Clean Eating magazine.

In order to get all of the chopping and cooking done, I kept the greys in their cages and let the caiques out. The caiques are much better at self-entertaining; they like to verbally interact with me, but are not likely to fly over to my workspace and start throwing mushrooms on the floor. The greys wouldn't be able to stop themselves from throwing mushrooms on the floor.

Here's Calypso on his new favorite perch:
I put him on the chair yesterday out of frustration when he and Beeps kept attacking each other while on the stands. A change of scenery was warranted. This morning, he wouldn't step down onto his stand -- he wanted back on this chair!

Wheatberries with mushroom/tomato sauce:

Ingredients:
wheatberries
olive oil
1 red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
~12 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
1-15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp. dried thyme

Cook the wheatberries according to the package. I made 2 servings. These need to simmer for about an hour, so I started them, then did all of my chopping (while on caique-watch) and had plenty of time to make the sauce.

Dice the onions, chop the mushrooms, and mince the garlic so everything is ready to go. I also opened my can of tomatoes now.Heat olive oil in a skillet. When hot, add onions.Cook for a few minutes, stirring regularly. Add the garlic. Cook for a few minutes more, still stirring regularly. Add the mushrooms and cook for a few more minutes as before.Add the can of diced tomatoes and the thyme and cook until it's the consistency you like. Then, pour the sauce over the wheatberries:
Thomas loved this; he said it was one of his favorite dishes of the past few years. It's pretty simple to make, and the sauce ingredients are things we usually have on hand for the summer. Instead of wheatberries, I might next time try this with couscous or something that doesn't take quite so long to cook! I'd also like to try this with fresh tomatoes once they are in season.

This was the first time we'd tried wheatberries. The consistency took some getting used to for me, but Thomas liked them instantly and wants to include them in our diet more frequently.

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As I was leaving for work this morning, there was a mourning dove drinking from the water my neighbors emit onto the street from this hose attached to their house.I just wish all of these birds weren't hanging out so close to the street! At least this street isn't very busy; pretty much only residents drive on it. I wonder what other wildlife I might catch there over the upcoming months!