From time to time I have been known to throw together a pretty good paleo meal.  Most recently The Criminal and Box Baby Whisperer had the opportunity to sample my fair when they popped over to watch Mason sleep while Eliza and I went to the movies.  We saw something about a girl with a tattoo.  I could have done without the sodamy but still thought it was a sweet flick.  Aside from cooking paleo thank you dinners and preparing day to day meals for Eliza and myself I also throw together paleo baby dishes for Mason.  The little guy pretty much eats what we eat except in pureed form.  Weird thought right?  For some reason I got the idea to treat Mason like a little person.  To be honest I’m not really sure why anyone goes out of their way to buy pre made baby food.  It’s all really just mush.  Why not make your own Bad Ass Mush (BAM)? 

With all that in mind I thought it would be a good idea to share some simple rules that Eliza and I follow for introducing foods to Mason and even share a form of BAM that the little guy can’t get enough of.  Be on the lookout for other BAM recipes as they are created.         

Most recently we have introduced beets and salmon to Mason.  At first, and these are good rules to follow all the time, we introduced the foods individually and waited about four days to make sure neither had an adverse effect.  We also try to introduce a new food for the first time somewhere in the middle of the day.  This is for the simple reason that if we have to rush Mason somewhere because we discovered an allergy we figure it easier to get a hold of a good baby doctor during business hours.

When preparing food for baby use the simplest method.  For the Beets I peeled, diced and roasted them.  If I know I’m going to be sharing with Mason I chop stuff up pretty small which makes for easier mashing and food processing.  To be honest when preparing most meals I set a small portion aside for Mason.  His portion doesn’t get the special seasonings and doing so makes sure that he always has some solids ready to go.  For the salmon I simply threw it on the cast iron skillet with a little beef tallow (Thanks D-Bag – for more on beef tallow stay tuned we may have a guest post in the works) and waited for the heat to do its job.    In both cases, after the food was prepared properly it was tossed into the magic bullet to be babified.  Remember, introduce new foods to baby one at a time.  Be conservative at first and allow 4 days between introductions.  Once you get deep into new foods you can start going to three and two days, especially with similar foods.   

Once the salmon and beets were ingested by Mason and in the clear zone it was time to have fun.       Babies are crazy, at least Mason is.  It seems the sloppier something is the more he likes it.  With that in mind I created Mason’s latest BAM.  With all the parts prepared, Salmon and Beets, I threw a handful of each in the Magic Bullet with a bunch of coconut oil and proceeded to bullet the mixture into a chucky tasty consistency.  If using coconut oil as your fat remember to keep all the parts at room temp.  Otherwise your BAM will be more like a brick.  If this happens simply add some hot water to the mixture or throw the mixture into a plastic baggy and place under warm water.  When brought to the right consistency simply scooped and served. 

The little guy loves this stuff.  To be honest I like it to.  Since making BAM for Mason I’ve had the opportunity to try all kinds of wild food combinations.  The point is that baby food isn’t and shouldn’t be considered Unicorn Dust.  There are rules, an order of operations, and yes there are concerns to consider when introducing solids to your baby.  However, it’s not as hard as you think.  Gather a few resources you trust, read them, and apply what you learn.  Eliza and I lean on two resources for shoveling solids into Mason’s pie whole; Kris Kresser’s Healthy Baby Code and Ruth Yaron’s Super Baby Food.  You also want to be sure that what you do works for your family.  Eliza and I feed Mason paleo style baby food because we eat paleo style food.  Weird huh!?!  Good luck and get out there and make some BAM of your own.  If you come up with something special that your baby loves share it.