Little Rebels started in my kitchen, the way most of these things start.

My kids got to the age where they were eating solids, and noodles basically became their own food group. Pasta was the one thing I could count on. Whatever I put on it, they’d at least try.

So I started experimenting with sauces. Not because I wanted to be a food brand — because I wanted my kids to eat more real food. I figured out that if I blended a few of them into a sauce, put them with a noodle, my kids ate it and asked for more. The vegetables came along for the ride. That was the lightbulb moment.

The cubes were part of the process from the start. I portioned every batch into cubes so I had a reliable dinner in minutes — whether I was short on time or the day had gone sideways. It was a backup, the same way that box of mac in the pantry is a backup. But this one came packaged in homemade, real food, feel good kind of way.

No powders. No preservatives. No vegetable-flavored anything. Whole vegetables and real cheese, frozen into cubes, ready in the time it takes to boil pasta.

I’m a mom of three in Minneapolis. I made the sauce I needed.