Eating Snack Food – Yum!

(Google Image)

By Diane Forrest

With the recent Super Bowl game, you may be surprised to learn how much food was consumed during that one sporting event.  According to statistics, Americans will eat 30 million pounds of snacks on Super Bowl Sunday. Those snacks break down to 11.2 million pounds of potato chips, 8.2 million pounds of tortilla chips, 4.3 million pounds of pretzels, 3.8 million pounds of popcorn and 2.5 million pounds of nuts. Viewers will also consume more than 1.23 billion chicken wings during Super Bowl weekend, according to the National Chicken Council’s 2013 Wing Report. Chicken wings are not the only junk food on the palates of Super Bowl viewers. They will be reaching for pizza, millions of slices of them. According to PizzaMarketplace.com, two of the largest pizza chains report that on Super Bowl Sunday sales for pizza will skyrocket. Pizza Hut will sell more than two million pizzas or 16 million slices and Domino’s will sell 11 million slices.

(Google Image)

I am giving you these stats to let you know that the Super Bowl is the start of National Snack Food Month.  The super bowl is the second largest food fest, following Thanksgiving, and people consume around 1200 calories in snacks during the game.  Normally, when I think of the super bowl, I think of the commercials, the half time show, and all the great food.  Football is the last thing on my mind.  So, it makes sense that we start the snack food month with a bang.  Also during the month of February, there is not much to do other than stay inside.  It’s usually too cold and wet to go out, and there are so many colds and germs floating around.   Newswise.com lists these activities that occur during the month of February:

Watch an old movie on TV (53 percent)

Eat a favorite snack food (45 percent)

Call an old friend (45 percent)

Reread a favorite book (35 percent)

Bake cookies (34 percent)

(Google Image)

Another favorite activity is snacking, adding on that extra layer of heat to your body.  When I think of snacks, I think of chips and cookies.  However, I have been trying to eat healthier, and have been munching on celery sticks.  Even when eating my favorite thing, chocolate, I have been eating the dark chocolate covered raisins.    You can still snack, but choose healthier foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, even low salt, and low fat popcorn.

(Google Image)

You don't have to be perfect; even I have to have some McDonald's French fries or puffy Cheetos every now and then.  But you can start off slow, and incorporate some healthy choices along with some of your favorite snacks, and before long, who knows, you may just want the healthy food.

Diane, 

We decided to be healthier this year during the super bowl and enjoyed these two platters:

(Google Image)

(Google Image)

 

National French Fries Day

(Google Image) 

By Terry Orr

Sweet, curly, spicy or slathered with chili and cheese, French fries are always a hit. That’s why we’re glad today is National French Fries Day!

(Google Image) 

The first French fries are said to date back to the 17th century in Belgium. The inhabitants of the region, which was then known as the Spanish Netherlands, often accompanied their meals with small fried fish.  When weather conditions were too dangerous to fish, they “julienned” potatoes to resemble the fish. This meant that they cut strips of potato into long, thin slices. They then fried these potatoes, which served as excellent substitutes!

(Google Image) 

Getting good French Fries these days can be a challenge and many competitors of the golden arches have yet to learn ‘crispy’ without soggy, greasy fries.

(Google Image) 

National Potato Chip

(Google Image) 

By Diane Forrest

Have you ever gone to a restaurant and ordered something that wasn't cooked the way you wanted?  Steak too rare?  Chicken too burned or eggs too runny?  This has happened to me occasionally, and it would always embarrass my husband and my child when I would send it back.  I would explain to them that I work hard for my money, and I don’t want to pay for something that I can't eat.  I can make bad food at home; I go out to eat so that I can have something better.  I know I’m not the first to send something back, and I won’t be the last.  About 159 years ago a customer at a restaurant in Sarasota Springs, NY had complaints about his potatoes.  He complained that they were too thick, too soggy, and too bland. Too greasy.  The chef by this time was completely aggravated and sliced the potatoes so thin and fried them, that they could not be eaten with a fork.  Then out of what must have been spite, he covered with salt, probably wanting to give the patron a "taste" of his own medicine.  But, to the surprise of the Chef, the customer (who some think to be Cornelius Vanderbilt) Loved them, and the rest....is history.

(Google Image)

At first you could only get them in restaurants, but then they started putting them in bags made out of wax paper that were folded and ironed or stapled, and selling them in mass production.  In the 1950's Joe "Spud" Murphy decided to try some seasoning on the chips.  They had been unseasoned until this time, well except for the salt.   The first seasonings were cheese and onion, and salt and vinegar.  Today there are dozens of different flavors to choose from, as well as plain, wavy, baked, thick cut or kettle cooked.

(Google Image)

I love potato chips, and have been doing extensive research for this article.  I like to eat them with sandwiches, or just with dip or alone.  I practically lived o ruffles and french onion dip when I was pregnant, and still prefer the wavy ones with dip, because they hold up under the weight.

Today is National Potato Chip day, so why not spend the day with some research of your own to see which one is your favorite.

(Google Image)

Ten Potato Chip Facts you may not know:

1. Potato Chips date back to 1853. An unhappy customer at a restaurant in Sarasota Springs, NY kept returning his fried potatoes to the chef, requesting they be prepared much thinner. The chef sliced them so thin that they could not be eaten with a fork. Thus was born the potato chip.
2. It wasn’t until the early 20th century that potato chips expanded from restaurant food and started selling in bags.
3. Flavored chips were born in the 1950′s by a small independent manufacturer who then sold the concept to the larger corporations.
4. As junk food goes, potato chips contain only ingredients (potatoes, oil, salt) and are considered by some nutritionists the lesser of savory evils.
5. Potato chips sales are over $15B (!!!) a year worldwide. They tally up about one third of all savory snacks.
6. While we call them potato chips, our overseas friends use the word crisps.
7. A single serving of potato chips, 1 ounce, contains only 150 calories, 10 grams of fat and 180mg of salt. That’s less than 10% of the daily calories of most people, about 15% of the fat, and 8% of the maximum sodium intake.
8. Problem is that most people don’t stop at one serving. Honestly, are 11 chips enough for you? People can wolf down 5 times that amount in sitting, dip not included…
9. One of the most popular flavored potato chip varieties is Sour Cream and Onion. Compared to just 3 ingredients in the original version, this one has 20 ingredients including MSG, Palm oil, and artificial coloring's.
10. Just in case you were wondering, this national holiday does not appear in congressional records. It’s just another made up holiday by snack food industry marketing geniuses.