Ideas on cooking meat for finger food?

[samypoo]

My LO is 9 months and will only eat finger foods. I was hoping someone could give me some advice on  how to cook different meats. Chicken is easy I bake it in a tiny bit of water till tender then chop up into tiny squares but when I try do the same with beef or lamb steaks it tastes yuk, like the blood oozes out then cooks. I've tried frying steaks but she doesn't seem to like the fried flavor and it comes out quite dry.
Any ideas or recipes would be great
Thanks

[jana224]

I do all of the following:

-throw a whole box of mini meatballs (you can buy turkey instead of beef to be healthier) in the crockpot with some water -- they come out SUPER tender and break apart easily, then just freeze individual portions of 3-4 meatballs
-pan fry ground turkey or chicken in some olive oil and herbs, freeze individual portions in 2-4 tablespoon quantities
-to keep meats from drying out when baking, you can cook them mixed in with a can of diced tomatoes to keep them moist, then you have both meat and tomatoes to store away
-use a roasting pan with a lid, bake a small beef roast with water and onion soup mix... comes out super tender and stringy, perfect for cutting up and freezing

We also do canned tuna and chicken because they come right out of the can flaky and easy to eat.

I think the crockpot is probably the easiest way to keep your meats really moist and tender, without much work on your behalf.

Good luck!
Jana

[samypoo]

Thanks for your suggestions, I'll give them a go. One other thing....last night I gave my LO tiny squares of stewing beef that I slow baked for about 2 hours in some beef stock. It came out tender and juicy but when I gave it to her she seems to only chew slightly before swallowing. When I changed her nappy this morning it looked like she had whole bits of meat in there and last night we had a terrible night, she woke at 3am and grizzled and cried till about 6am. Do you think she might be too young for meat as finger food? She is 9 mnths old and easily manages most other finger foods.

[jana224]

hmmm... I don't know since I've been doing meat since 6 months - first purees, then ground, now strips.  Maybe just give a little less or cut the pieces even smaller for easier digestion?

[samypoo]

Thanks, maybe I'll go back to ground and just give a little. I'll try your mini meatballs in the crockpot.
Thanks for all your help