So then Rebecca, what are these Cübes you speak of and why on earth are you writing about baby food, bear with lovely reader, trust me on this one! Life these days for me seems to be busy, busy, busy. If I’m not running around after the children I’m running around after the dogs or working on the blog. The point is that trying to juggle each element leaves me less and less time to muster up the energy to fight the good fight when it comes to dinner time.
I have a daughter who is currently pushing her food around the plate and a son whose Spidey Senses detect a food abnormality at twenty paces. By abnormality I’m referring to a change to a recipe or ‘snuck in foods’. Joking aside, Lewis has SPD aka sensory processing disorder/difficulties linked to his autism so I’ve always had a challenge on my hands with foods. I’ve tried to make my own hidden veg purees in the past to sneak into our family favourites such as bolognaise, cottage pie or lasagne but this in itself is a chore because I have to make the hidden veg puree when Lewis isn’t home because he hates the smell it makes and he get suspicious when he sees me making it and assumes I’m going to put in on everything including his Coco Pops!
Dinners shouldn’t have to be executed with military precision using stealth tactics (ooh look my Warfare Masters poking its head up for a moment there!) Where was I? Oh yes, fed up with sneaking about in my own kitchen. Until now that is!
I’ve been playing (and I do mean playing) with the new Baby Cübes from Lickalix. I was given the chance to review these and I’ll be totally honest (I always am) that I felt a bit of a fraud after I’d arranged my delivery. Why was I getting baby Cübes? Er hello Rebecca, your kids are 13 and 11 years old. And how flipping lazy was I to think about ditching my old ways of liquidising tonnes of veg in order to hide it in our meals.
Well you can scrap all that now.
I am genuinely going to keep buying these and will always have them in my freezer. Let me tell you why;
They’re quick and easy to pop into a meal unnoticed
They’re packed with all the good stuff we need (if you want exact nutritional info you’ve come to the wrong person)
They don’t have an overpowering smell or overly strong flavour so are easily disguised.
The fruit Cübes make the most delicious smoothies
No pips or bits! Perfect for overly sensitive mouths and my detective of a son.
And finally they’re quick and easy…did I already say that?
So as I say, I’ve been having a play with these Cübes and so far I’ve managed to successfully sneak them into a Chilli Con Carne and made several variations of smoothies for me. So, not only are these Baby Cübes great for my kids but they’re helping me to keep on the straight and narrow nutritionally. For the record, I’m terrible at eating enough fruit, the whole eating an apple or a banana seems like hard work to me most of the time, I have to really be in the mood to eat a piece of fruit that way. You offer me a smoothie and that’s a whole different matter. The co founder of Lickalix sums it up beautifully below;
Ultimately, the main thought behind the cubes is to help busy families who are short on time lead healthier lifestyles by eating delicious and healthy food that they may not have time to make themselves. By having BABY CÜBES in your freezer allows you to feed your family healthy alternatives with organic fruit and vegetables allowing you to spend more time having family fun.
Karis, Lickalix Co-Founder.
A wonderful way to sneak veggies into a family meal that the whole family will eat and you can sit back in the comfort that everyone's getting a daily dose of nutrients. This is both gluten free and dairy free.
- 500 g mince
- 1 Knorr beef stock pot
- 1 tin kidney beans
- 500 g passata
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 chopped garlic clove
- 1-2 tsp chilli powder
- 6 Baby Cübes I used 3 spinach/pea/broccoli and 3 sweet potato/carrot/butternut
- Brown the mince and add the stock pot
- Add the garlic, tomato puree and chilli powder
- Add the passata and the kidney beans
- Finally add your Baby Cube hidden veg.
- Turn heat down and simmer with the lid on for up to an hour to allow the beans to soften.
Simple Smoothie Bonus Recipe!
200ml soya milk (I tend to use sweetened soya milk)
2-3 Baby Cübes (be creative)
Pop it all into a smoothie maker/blender and whizz until thick and creamy
That’s it, it really is that simple!
Giveaway Time!
And one last thing! I’ve linked with these other awesome bloggers pages, go check them out
Brilliant Blog Posts | That Friday Linky | Lucky Linky | Blog Comp Linky | Blog Crush
One last tip for this Chilli Con Carne recipe of any of my family dinner recipes, I use Igluu Meal Prep* storage containers to portion up leftovers and freeze…makes life a heck of a lot easier later down the line.
disclaimer: This post was in collaboration with Lickalix and I was paid for ingredients and my time. As always my opinions are my own and if I don’t like it, don’t agree with it or it didn’t get on with me it doesn’t get written about.
I’ve also started using affiliate codes on my website again (needs must). If you click on any of the links in the post and make a purchase my family will benefit from a small % of that purchase at no extra cost to you.
*Igluu link is not an affiliate link, just a top tip.
what a clever idea, I really fancy trying some of the ice Lilly ideas. luckily my children are pretty good with vegetables but I can totally see how helpful these would be if you had a fussy water xxx great review xxx
Chicken & Sweet Potato Mash.
These look absolutely amazing and could save you so much time
I think I’d throw these in everything – my little boy is currently throwing a tantrum at everything green except pesto!!
i reckon a nice pasta bolognaise would work nicely. love this unique idea!
I love this idea…I always try to add in a few extra veggies that they can’t detect and this is such a simple and easy way to do it! Great find.
I absolutely love Chilli Con Carne but it always ends up being a tad bland when I make it. Your recipe sounds absolutely perfect. I am pinning it right now into my ‘recipes to try’ board. I love the Cübes already and have a few left in my freezer, so I’ll be giving your chilli a go next week! xxx
Fab recipe Hun! Love the idea of using these to sneak extra veggies into things and esp using them for a pick n mix smoothie… Genius!
Ooo i would make a big family Lasagne
I would make a vegetable risotto
Aaaaargh. Why were these not around when my two were small???? I spent hours of my life carefully creating purees and freezing them in ice cube trays, ready to defrost into baby food. I used to love making unusual mixes…my kids’ fave was pear and sweet potato! And I love your genius idea of using them in older kids’ food too – such a fab idea for time poor parents who want their fussy kids to eat well. LOVE it!! Eb x
Me too Eb, it was great fun making things like mini roast dinner in a cube but it became a chore.
These sound great! I too have a picky eater and have resorted to bribing her to eat her veggies, or hand feeding them to her myself! Might be able to sneak these into something tasty :) #BlogCrush
These are such a great idea! I wish my parent’s had hidden vegetables in my food when I was a child, I used to have to sit there and eat all my peas and I couldn’t stand them. I can imagine these cubes not only making recipes extra tasty, but also dinner time less stressful!
Haha your comment made me giggle but yes you’re right meal times are FAR less stressful!
Let’s hope the kiddies don’t read this post… or your cover will be blown! These are a great idea, kids or no kids! #G2BGF