 The following is a production of New Mexico State University. Welcome to another episode of Long Live La Familia, the nutrition soap opera series that speaks not only to our hearts, but also to our appetites. I'm Keri Bachman, your host for the series. Now if you've been with us before, you'll remember the Sierra family. The Sierra family consists of grandpa and grandma and their six adult children. And in this episode, we'll be looking particularly at two of those children, Lisa and Vicki. Now Lisa and Vicki both have very busy lives. They have teenage daughters, they have jobs outside the home. In one case, one works in an office, the other one is actually a day care provider. And she works inside the home, in fact. But they're very busy with their lives. And the topic of this episode of our series is the food guide pyramid. Now we'll have plenty of chances to look at this later on, but just to refresh your memories, this is what we're talking about when we mentioned the food guide pyramid. You'll remember if you've been with us before, that our episodes are always broken up into three segments. That gives us a chance to get back together, talk about what we've seen, and also apply it to our own lives. You'll also remember that our dialogue is a mixture of English and Spanish. Now don't worry if you don't speak any Spanish. You'll be able to understand all the topics that are presented. And if you're learning Spanish, pues mucho mejor. Now, of course, we're going to be working with food. And you'll remember the first thing that we want to do when working with food is wash our hands. So let's go ahead and get started on that. Now why is it important to wash our hands when we're preparing food or even just sitting down for a meal? Well, when we eat, it's often possible that the foods that we eat or the utensils or surfaces could have been contaminated with bacteria. And those can actually make us sick. So washing our hands is one way to get rid of those bacteria. Of course, the other thing I've done is cleaned up this countertop surface. And that has made another important difference in fighting foodborne illness. Now, let's just go quickly and show you a little bit about our food guide pyramid. We have five main food groups in the food guide pyramid. And you all can take a look at this if you've got a cereal box or a bread label. It should have the food guide pyramid right on the side. In any case, the bottom of the pyramid is made up with bread, cereal, rice and pasta group. And we have some examples from that group right here that we'll be cooking with today. Then we have the fruit group. And we've got actually a mixture of fruits here. Some of them are even grown in New Mexico, all cut up and ready to use. And these mystery seeds, I bet you know what these are. I'll leave those to talk about a little bit later. Next in our food guide pyramid is the dairy group. And these are foods that are made from milk, generally. We have some yogurt here and a couple of kinds of cheeses that we'll be using today. And the last group on our food guide pyramid is what we call the protein group. And actually these foods are, some of them are meats and from animals, like we have some turkey and some fish. And others are plant products, like these here. So, you might be wondering what on earth are we going to be doing with all of that food here today? Well, we'll be making some creative recipes. And as we're looking at the first segment in our episode, I want you to pay attention and see what are the misconceptions that the characters have about the food guide pyramid. It's a lie! You know that song? I love it here, Tia Vicky. It's so nice to get out of the city in the summertime. And plus, I get to practice my Spanish more often. And you've been a great help with the daycare. And you know your grandparents love seeing you, too. Hi, Sylvia. Oh, Mom, I am starved. Can I have some of that tuna? Same here, but just a little bit, because we're going to have dinner. I made bread enchiladas. Mmm, enchiladas. How delicious! Raquel, what do you have in the bag? Oh, it's the plaza we made for school. It's so that we can teach our kids about how to make food. Oh, and I also have to come up with some menus for a week, using this same pyramid. ¿Te puedo ayudar a escribir los menus? I'm sure the church can do a great job. My favorite part is the tip. Este grupo que está en la mero arriba. ¿Y por qué? Porque es el grupo de las velocinas, ¿verdad? My favorite part is the tip. Este grupo que está en la mero arriba. ¿Y por qué? Porque es el grupo de las velocinas, ¿verdad? ¡Esas como que no tienen jelly, soda, dulces, todo! Mom, it seems so hard to think of a week in advance. Desde planar la comida, a mí me gusta siermas espantáneas. Yo no. Yo aprendí como planear las comidas usando la pirámide en mi clase para niñeras. I guess you would need to plan for all those day care kids. But still, tía, nothing can be simpler than fast food. Sí, mamá, la comida rapida lo más fácil. A burger and a milkshake and you've got all the food groups. And besides, the pyramid is only important for special groups of people. ¿Qué dicen, Silvia? Que la pirámide sirve a ciertas personas nomás? Sí, like my cousin Raquel. Mamacita to be. No more spicy foods for you, young lady. Como menudo y huevos con chorizo. Hey, where does Mexican food come in this pyramid anyway? So did you notice any misconceptions about the food guide pyramid? Well, the first one that I thought of is that people often think the pyramid is only for special groups of people. I hear all the time, well, there's no Mexican foods on the pyramid. How is that going to apply to me? And that's one of the reasons actually that we created this version of the food guide pyramid with new Mexicans in mind. You can get a copy of this by calling us at the number on the bottom of your screen. Now, the other misconception that we heard on the episode was that as long as you've got a meal that has something from every food group, you're going to be eating healthy. Well, that's not necessarily always true. You could actually have a burger and a shake and conceivably have foods from all five food groups, but it wouldn't necessarily be the healthiest meal. What we're going to do right now is kind of a variation on that theme. We're going to go ahead and make a pyramid sandwich. So we're going to take some ingredients from every food group starting with the grains group on the bottom of the pyramid. This is pita bread, and it's really nice because when you cut it into it like this, it actually makes a little pocket. And that's what we're going to fill up with all of our goodies. Now, the first thing that we're going to put in here is some yogurt. So we've got the dairy group, and this yogurt actually acts a little bit like mayonnaise would, but it's lower in fat and higher also in calcium, which is what foods in the dairy group are important for in general. Okay, so we've got some yogurt here on the base. Now let's go to our meat group. We're going to add a slice of smoked turkey just like this. And so we've got three food groups here now. What are we missing? The vegetables and the fruit, and you might think fruit in a sandwich. Wait and see. Surprisingly good. Now, for our vegetables, we're going to add some spinach. These little baby spinach leaves are so tender, and they're nice because they fit all the way back inside just like this. And we're going to add some mushrooms. So it's kind of like a salad in a sandwich. We've got that. Now, what are we missing? Our fruit. So let's take a look over here. In terms of fruit, I think what I'm going to do, I really like the combination of pears and turkey. I don't know if you've ever had that before, but it's quite tasty. So we're going to slide some pear slices in here. This is really a good season for pears. They're so tasty. And now the final crowning glory will be some pomegranate seeds. These are really good in sandwiches, and the nice thing again about this pita sandwich is that it's a pocket. So you can put stuff like loose stuff like this in, and it'll stay. So here, we have a delicious pyramid sandwich. Okay. Now, as we continue on with our episodes, I want you to think about a concept called nutrient density. If we compare this sandwich here, for example, with a hamburger, hamburgers are not necessarily bad foods. But if you look at a normal hamburger bun, it probably doesn't have very much fiber in it. Whereas this bread that we've chosen is high in fiber. We've got some meat here that's low in fat. Often a hamburger patty can be high in fat. So you see foods within the same food group are not always created equal. It doesn't mean that we should never eat high fat or high sugar foods. It just means that in general, we should try to focus on the foods in food groups that are most nutrient dense. And that's why I've chosen all of these foods here today. We're going to go ahead and go back to our episode. And as we're watching, let's continue to look for more misconceptions about the Food Guide Pyramid. I wonder which food group is the most important. Mmm. Mira, yo creo es el grupo de los panes. It is the biggest, you know. So it has to be the most important. Pero, como crees? How are you going to get 6 to 11 grains in one day? Son muchísimas porciones, ¿verdad? Yo apenas comer dos. Well, at least I don't have to worry about getting it from the milk group, because I love milk. Is that right, Ms. Nutrition? ¿Cómo sabes si recibes suficiente calcio? Well, I can break dance for hours, so my bones must be strong. I don't have to worry about milk. ¿Hay poco crees porque puedes estar huertas de cabeza en el great dancing? Tienes huertos fuertes. Well, yeah, you must get enough milk because you eat what you fix for the daycare center, right? Pero por lo general yo no como lo mismo que los niños en la guardería. Yeah, oh, you just bake this and drive popcorn. ¿Por qué no se van afuera a hacer los menus? This side is cooler outside. Yo le voy a hablar a tu mamá, Silvia. Busted. ¿Qué hiciste? Le van a hablar a tu mam. Es que hace tiempo que no habló con Lisa. I just want to catch up with my sister. Don't forget your water, mi hija. Ya sabes que debes beber mucha agua ahora que estás embarazada. How that you're pregnant. Come on, why do you worry so much? Porque you're pregnant y tu mamá tiene ganas de conocer su nieto. What do you mean, grandson? I want a girl. Well, we want a boy. Girl. Boy. Girl. Boy or girl. Little girl. Yeah. Oh, what's the big deal? No, más cara, da's un niño aquí. And you can't let the kids in. No, big deal. Oh, yeah? You tried it. давай, right there. Mentirosa con la lengua venenosa. Mentirosa con la lengua venenosa. ¡Mirosa! Good evening, Jones Insurance. Can I help you? Hello, hermana. Hi. I thought I might still find you working at the office. Sí, con este trabajo son las siete, and I'm still here. Y mi hija, ¿cómo está? Oh, tu hija, Silvia, está muy bien. We're having such great fun with her. It's my daughter that I've been worried about. Me preocupa la salud de Raquel. Parece que sus hábitos alimenticios te preocupan mucho. Is it because of her gestational diabetes? Sí, te acuerdas, yo también tuve diabetes cuando estuve embarazada. After I had my baby, I never was thin again. Me preocupa que Raquel también va a quedar gorda igual que yo. Pues yo parecía un vas. And you don't want the same thing to happen to her. But you know, Vicky, you are under a lot of stress. It's got to be hard work having a daycare correteando atrás de los chiquillos todos los días. Yeah, sometimes I don't even have any energy left at the time that you finally arrive. Like now, we haven't even had dinner yet. Poca energía, ¿ahá? A lo mejor, la que no está comiendo bien, eres tú. And even if I do have energy left, pues Alberto's gone up to four days out of the week. Mmm, debe ser tan difícil para su matrimonio que Alberto esté fuera de la casa tanto tiempo. He doesn't even have to call me from the road like he used to. Pues a veces creo que ya ni me quiere. Sis, saber la verdad es mejor que hacerse la tonta. Mira lo que pasó con Jorge. I still don't know why he left me in the girls. Wasn't I good enough for him? Oh, ya quisiera ese menso. No se merece una mujer tan buena como tú. Thanks, well, I just try to take it one day at a time. Ojalá yo fuera tan fuerte como tu hermana. Lisa, you have that arm mosquito file yet? Yes, sir, I'll be right there. I gotta go. Abrasos para mi hija. Sí, seguro. Okay, I'll see you at the family reunion. Seguro. Te amo, hermana. Me too. Bye-bye. Adiós. Did you notice any more misconceptions? Well, one of the most common ones that I hear is that the largest groups in the food guide pyramid must be the most important. Actually, that's not true. We really need a variety of foods from every food group. Different food groups give us different nutrients, and if we were to just eat all of our foods from the grains group, for example, we wouldn't get the other nutrients that our bodies need. Let's go ahead and make another pyramid sandwich, and we can use that as an example as we're going along. Now, this sandwich we're going to use, the base of it is going to be a whole wheat flour tortilla. These are really nice as a base for sandwiches because kids love them. Now, what I suggest if you're using this to make a wrap is you find some kind of a sticky ingredient. In this case, we're going to use peanut butter to put right on the bottom. The reason for that is when you roll up your tortilla sandwich or your wrap, it'll have something to stick to. Otherwise, sometimes it doesn't want to stay closed. You'll see we don't need to use a ton of peanut butter because we're actually going to be putting other things onto the sandwich. Okay, so we've got our grains group, which gives us some carbohydrate and fiber. Our protein group where we get some protein. Now, what else do we need to add here? Let's look at the fruits here. We've got a couple of different things chopped up, and I like to add these to wraps. You can see you can just put them in a line down the middle. We've got some apple and a really nice plum. It's a good combination here with peanut butter. It's kind of like eating peanut butter and jelly, actually. Not much different. Only the fruit is a lot better for you than jelly. Now you're going to say what on earth vegetables are you going to put onto that sandwich? Well, you'd be surprised, actually. Vegetables and fruits really go well with peanut butter. The Indonesians actually eat a lot of things in peanut sauce. And so you can see we've washed the parsley ahead of time. I'm just going to lay it kind of right here in the middle. This is a good amount of parsley. Normally in a restaurant, you just get a tiny bit on the side of your plate and nobody eats it. But parsley is actually very tasty and really nutritious. And on top of that, we're going to put a little bit of shredded turnip. People are often surprised to see turnip in a raw form. But surprisingly, if you have children, they absolutely love raw turnip. They'll use it and eat it as dip or even just eat it as like an apple slice, as you would an apple slice. Now what are we missing here? Some dairy, right? Well, we're going to go ahead and put on a little bit of this feta cheese, which is nice and spicy. So you don't need a lot of it. I like to use cheeses that are strong and in small amounts. This gives us some calcium and also adds a lot of flavor to our dish. All right, we've got everything here. It looks a little bit large, doesn't it? What we're going to try to do is carefully roll it up. If you've ever made sushi, it's kind of that concept. It's a little different than a burrito, which you actually tuck under. It's like a wrap that you could buy at a store for quite a bit more money than we've needed to spend here. And it's also a very, very tasty meal or snack. Now we're going to go ahead and continue with our episode and see if you can find some more misconceptions about the Food Guide Pyramid. This menu in class, what do you think? Well, the menu looks very creative, but do you make tortillas with your hands? Who makes tortillas anymore? I use the other king. Mom taught me how. My sister, Lisa, the queen of frozen dinners? My mom is a very good cook. She learned from Grandma and her FNF class. Well, maybe I should sign up for that FNF class. But candy with yogurt, what a combination. I know that crazy recipe that Cousin Fidal came up with. What's the help of your fancy new girlfriend? Well, for my taste, that candy with yogurt is pure junk food. I don't care if it happened to my niece Fidel or not. But auntie, I couldn't live without a little chocolate fix every now and then. Yeah, like every hour. But a little bit of chocolate doesn't hurt anyone. Hey, I hear that your auntie's new girlfriend is a real babe. My sister, Santiago, with a woman? I wonder what auntie Maria thinks about it, now that she's up in heaven. My sister and mom haven't been with anyone since she got married. Okay, auntie. Well, maybe now that you're both expert nutritionists with your yogurt and everything, you could revamp the menu for the family reunion. But a family reunion without chicharrones or colored chili? No red chili for you, young lady. And you have to have hot dogs and potato salad. Oh, auntie, you always have that creamy potato salad. Delicious! And don't forget your fancy specialty, chips and store-bought cake. Oh, it's true, because you don't know how to cook. It's the only thing that can take my uncle and Fidel. This whole reunion meal is unhealthy. You have to turn that dish upside down. Oh, mom, don't worry about it. Well, whatever we decide, I can tell you one dish I wouldn't miss. Oh, I know. That old lady's salad that Becky brought from Hollywood. Ugh, I just get sick thinking of that revolting dish Aunt Becky makes. The meat that she uses is disgusting. What does she call that awful dish anyway? Maui, Maui, Madness. And that's it. Where are you going in the pyramid? Well, that's the end of our episode. Did you notice another misconception? People think a lot of times, if you follow the Food Guide pyramid, you've got to throw out all your soda, your donuts, your candy. But actually, that's not true. There is another tiny food group at the top. It's not really one of the main food groups. It's called fats and sweets. And that's where those foods fit. Now, the thing that makes sense is to eat those foods in moderation. Every once in a while, it's nice to have a treat. But you don't need to be having those as a habit every single day, necessarily. Let me show you an example with what I mean as we make our final pyramid sandwich. A lot of people will use mayonnaise when they're making a sandwich. Mayonnaise is really pretty high in fat and calories. So what I like to do is either use mustard instead, which I'm going to do here. Nice grainy mustard. Or you can actually buy now some lower fat versions of mayonnaise. So the pyramid helps you make those choices. We've got here a whole rye cracker with some mustard. I've chopped up or actually sliced up some of our tomatillos. So this is the vegetable part of our pyramid sandwich. These are something you normally see in salsas here in New Mexico. But they're really tasty just like this. They have kind of a lemony flavor. So explore with all the vegetables. It's really amazing what we've got out there to eat. Now, what do we want to have on here now? Let's go with something from the protein group. One of my favorite foods is actually tuna. This is sort of a fast food that's actually healthy for you. You can just open up a can. And if you buy the water-packed tuna, again, that's a more nutrient-dense, smarter choice from the food guide pyramid than tuna-packed in oil. And we're just going to kind of scatter a little bit of tuna throughout our little sandwich. Now, we're missing still some fruit. You know what this is here? These are figs, fresh figs. These actually do grow in New Mexico if you have a very sheltered place from the cold and the wind. And they're beautiful if you put them right here on top. We're going to top this off with something from our dairy group, some sharp cheddar cheese. And what I've done is shredded it up. That means that we can use less of it than if we'd sliced it. There we are. So, yet another example of a healthy sandwich that includes all foods in the food group. Now, as we always do at this point in the show, we want to think about a goal to set for the coming week. The food guide pyramid is kind of an all-consuming topic. There's a lot to remember about it. But one of the things that I think is most important is to think of foods that are high in nutrients when you're making selections within each food group. So, what I would like to set as a goal for myself anyway is to take a look at each food group and concentrate on making a better choice within that food group every day. So, let's say today I decide to focus on the grains group. And perhaps normally I make a sandwich with white bread. Well, this week what I'm going to do instead of buying white bread is go to the store and maybe buy some whole wheat pita or use whole wheat flour tortillas or use some whole grain bread instead. It's from the same food group in the pyramid but it's giving me more nutrients, more fiber. Let's take another example. Let's say for juice you normally drink apple juice. Well, instead of apple juice you might want to actually try selecting a whole apple. You'd be surprised how much more fiber you're going to get out of this apple and it's going to fill you up a lot more than just drinking the juice will. So that's a way of kind of making high nutrient selections within each part of the food guide pyramid. Another thing that is helpful with the food guide pyramid is to take a look at our meals over the course of an entire day. And if you get to the end of the day and you've done that and you realize, wow, I'm a little bit low on fruits today well then you can work in an evening snack maybe of a banana. Or let's say you're a little bit low on dairy products because those especially are very important for women. You could actually have like a midnight snack of a glass of milk. The pyramid helps us plan our foods throughout the day. Now I hope that you've learned a few things here with our show today and that you're able to use them with your family and until next time, long live our families.