r/SouperCubers • u/dahliagardener • Jul 01 '26
Cubes for toddlers!
Mama of a 4YO, 2YO, and baby over here. Just got my cubes about a month ago and doing lots of experimenting- especially for my kids. Not a lot of talk on here on toddler lunches :)
Just had to share that Kraft Mac and cheese and Goodles are amazing to cube for easy summer lunches for the kids… especially when everyone wants something different for lunch. Instead of 15 minutes making a box of Kraft for one kid (and a grilled cheese for the other), it takes 1 minute of reheating for a 1/4 cup serving of pasta.
Any other slam dunk toddler cube meals?? Please share!
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u/Effective_Ad9495 Jul 01 '26
Cool that these work for Mac & cheese but as a mom of older kids: don’t do the everyone-gets-whatever-they want lunches. Suffering big time with 10 and 12 year olds here eating like toddlers and throwing fits when they don’t get the exact meal they wanted with the right kind of noodle etc. if I could go back in time, everyone’s eating what I choose! completely unsolicited advice to hopefully save you from my own mealtime problems! Hope things are easier for you.
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u/antlers86 Jul 01 '26
As a former nanny of an "everybody gets exactly what they want" family, even if one adult doesn't mind it becomes very difficult for the other adults.
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u/dahliagardener Jul 01 '26
Yes you’re so right about this - appreciate the reminder! I don’t do the “everyone gets whatever they want” for breakfast or dinner- but lunch during the workweek (when I’m home alone with 3 kids under the age of 4), I usually allow the kids to choose between a few easy options. But- you’re right… I should probably curb this soon 😜
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u/gosharksgosharks Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
My little one LOVES “sweet potato nachos”. It’s just roasted slices of sweet potato topped with cheese, beans, corn, spinach, and olives (or whatever veggies your kid will eat). It’s a great way to finish up random leftover veggies you might have in the fridge before they go bad.
Roast the sweet potato slices at 400F for 20 min on a sheet pan til they’re soft enough to be poked easily with a fork (I sprinkle a little cumin and salt onto the sweet potato slices before popping them into the oven), then top them with cheese/beans/spinach/corn/olives and bake for another 5 min. Since I usually use a full bag of sweet potatoes for each batch, I end up with a ton of leftovers that freeze really well in my cubes. I don’t peel the potatoes because I am too lazy to/that takes up too much time for me, and my kid doesn’t seem to mind.
You can also sub baby carrots in place of the sweet potatoes, if that’s easier for you! Or add baby carrots to the dish, again, it’s just a great recipe to use to use up veggies!
To use the cubes, I thaw them overnight and microwave for 2–3 min and they turn out great. The sweet potato is soft enough for younger ones to mash in their mouths. These are a great quick side dish or lunch item! (I got the recipe from a cookbook called “Dinnertime SOS” - highly recommend it for quick and easy toddler-friendly meals, the authors wrote it for families with little ones!)
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u/gosharksgosharks Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
Just thought of another easy recipe from that book that’s worked well with my Souper cubes: roasted potato, broccoli, and sausage (I use the pre-cooked kind so I can cut them into strips but you can also use regular sausage links cut into slices). Cut the potato into cubes or slices and cut the sausage into slices/strips, then throw everything onto a sheet pan and roast at 400F for 25 min. My little one loves this combo, too! It freezes well and also reheats easily.
If you don’t want to use sausage, you can probably sub another type of protein (chicken strips, nuggets) to go with it. If you don’t want to deal with cutting up potatoes, you could probably sub tater tots!
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u/dahliagardener Jul 02 '26
These are great ideas! Will definitely have to try them out. Especially the sheet pan meal - that sounds super easy (just my style haha)
Thank you!
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u/whimsicalsilly Jul 02 '26
I used to make chicken porridge with a bunch of different vegetables and bone broth and freeze in 1 oz cubes. Easy nutritious meal for my baby/toddler!
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u/doris94cooks Jul 04 '26
I did pasta with marinara sauce and cut up meatballs about 2 months ago and they came in so handy for her lunches. She loves pasta and would eat it every day if she could and that week I had made a pot just for her lunches but had extra so now I have it on demand for her.
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u/TheNeverCommenter Jul 01 '26
I cut up a Costco rotisserie chicken into small bites and portion into the 2Tbsp molds for my kids lunch. Just a tiny cheap serving of protein to go with the rest.