Regular readers know how much I despise math word problems. Particularly those a certain 8-year-old brings home.

But there is one equation I totally get. And I’ve made it my No. 1 job to make sure Parker gets it, too.

It’s the healthy eating equation. Because when it comes to healthy eating — for ourselves and our kids — the equation is really pretty simple.

Eat real food in reasonable quantities and you can pretty much eat as you like.

Easy to comprehend. Harder to follow through on.

Harder still is teaching that equation to children, particularly the first part. Real food.

Despite all the progress of the past 15 or so years in getting more people to cook and eat more real food, the reality is our culture is saturated by corporate messaging that points us in the exact opposite direction.

And much of that messaging is aimed at our kids. Because kids are easy targets. And the purveyors of processed foods know we all just want to make our kids happy. And sometimes we just want 5 minutes of peace.

So it’s easy to cave to demands of bright, exciting, processed junk.

But our job as parents is to counter that message. To teach the value of cooking. To teach the allure of real food. Sometimes, of course, that’s hard. As a dad I don’t have a multimillion dollar advertising budget to get my message across.

Really all we can do is teach by example. Get in the kitchen and cook and eat. And do it together. And share ideas with each other about what works and what doesn’t.

But every once in a while along comes a tool or a trick that can make our jobs a little easier. And when we find those, I believe wholeheartedly in sharing them.

Because we all need all the help we can get.

Last week I found one of those helpers. It’s a great video/children’s book by Bettina Elias Siegel, the woman behind the very cool blog The Lunch Tray. Check out her site.

But also check out this video she did, which explains the value of real food — and the problems of processed food — in language and story our kids can understand. It’s worth a watch with your kids.

Now… Speaking of cooking real food… For today’s lunch, I decided to try something new. In my ongoing effort to get Parker to embrace — or at least more readily tolerate — vegetables, I decided to try turning cucumbers into bread.

Parker generally considers cucumbers among the most benign of vegetables, so it seems reasonable. I got some mini cucumbers, then sliced them in half lengthwise. With a spoon I scraped out any seeds, creating two “boats.”

I smeared a bit of cream cheese into each boat, then added a bit of steak. We’ll see how they go over…

For the rest of his lunch, I heaped the remaining leftover steak from yesterday’s lunch into a container with some lemon. He’ll be thrilled. Then I made a strawberry-rhubarb yogurt parfait.

Yesterday I picked some rhubarb that grows wild in the yard and simmered it with a little sugar to make a compote. OK, truth be told, my motivating was that I wanted it for a cocktail (which was delicious). But I had extra, so I layered a bit with fresh strawberries and plain Greek yogurt. Done!

Also, folks had asked for the recipe for the mac and cheese with pulled pork casserole. Here it is! Enjoy.

MAC AND CHEESE PULLED PORK CASSEROLE

Start to finish: 1 1/2 hours (30 minutes active)
Servings: 8

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• Kosher salt and ground black pepper
• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 2 pounds pork tenderloin, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 13 1/2-ounce bottle barbecue sauce
• 1 to 2 tablespoons cider vinegar, to taste
• 8 ounces elbow pasta
• 1/4 cup creme fraiche
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese
• Hot sauce, to taste
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

Heat the oven to 425 F. Coat a 9-inch springform baking pan with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, mix together the paprika, cumin, chili powder and 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Slice the sweet potatoes as thinly as possible. A mandoline or food processor is best, but careful slicing with a knife works, too. Arrange a single layer of the slices in the prepared pan. Sprinkle with a bit of the spice blend, then spritz with cooking spray. Repeat with additional layers of sweet potatoes and seasonings until you have used all of the slices and seasoning mixture.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until tender and lightly browned at the edges. Remove the pan from the oven and set aside.

Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to a simmer. Add the pork and cook for 1 hour. Remove the pork from pan. Using 2 forks, tear and shred the pork into bite-sized pieces. Discard the water from the pan, then return the pork to it. Add the barbecue sauce and vinegar, then mix well. Set aside.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente according to package directions. Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta and return to the saucepan. Return the pasta to medium heat and add the creme fraiche, cheddar and Gruyere. Stir until melted, then add a splash of hot sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread the pulled pork in an even layer over the roasted sweet potatoes. Spread the mac and cheese over the pork.

In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan, panko and butter. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture evenly over the mac and cheese, then bake for 15 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs are lightly toasted and the center of the casserole is hot.

Nutrition information per serving: 520 calories; 160 calories from fat (31 percent of total calories); 18 g fat (10 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 115 mg cholesterol; 52 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 15 g sugar; 36 g protein; 1,190 mg sodium.

Read the original on: Lunch Box Blues