Megan-love the new avatar!!
Mary-The meat I give is usually slow cooked, roasted, or ground. So roast chicken, stews, crock pot beef, meatloaf, that sort of thing.
Also just wanted to mention to Megan and Siane that a large portion of BLW is not just giving chunks of food, but the philosophy of why you let your LO feed themselves. (Hence the big chunks) You are letting them explore food on their own terms without expectation. This means some babies want to eat more things at 6mo, like my munchkin. Other babes may need to explore until they are closer to a year. (remember food before 1 is just for fun!) So this means by giving them a variety of foods you are giving them the opportunity to decide when and how much they are going to eat. It is the BLW phiosophy that a baby will eat what it needs if you let them eat when they want. This leads to a healthier relationship with food later in life because they were not "forced" to eat food rather they were let to figure out how the food made them feel..ie, if I eat this my tummy feels full..if I put ALL of this in my mouth at once, I choke and I can't eat it.
This is why it is not encouraged to feed by spoon or to put chunks of food in the babies mouth if you are going to BLW. It kind of removes the purpose of them learning about food at their own pace.
Also, I know Ellen is FF, this means that she tastes the same flavor at every meal. So food to her is a big change and may take a little time to get used to. BF babies get to taste food through what their mom eats (Megan-I mean no offense about your choice to FF...I know you were BF until you got preg)
The BLW book was very eye opening and a very fast read. It took me just 2 or 3 days and I have NO spare time!
I would say just keep offering and they will get what they need...mostly they just need to be able to experience the food often enough and before you know it they will be chomping away
HTH ladies...sorry so long winded
