National Corn Chip Day
Crunchy delights that bring the fiesta to your taste buds. Pair them with your favorite dips and get ready for a snack-time dance party!
Corn chips are a snack food made by frying or baking cornmeal into bite-sized pieces, sold in a bag and eaten either alone or with a dip.
Though the origins of this day seem to be fuzzy, the purpose is certainly clear – National Corn Chip Day celebrates this popular snack and the many ways of enjoying it!
How to Celebrate National Corn Chip Day
Surely a variety of different creative ideas can be found to celebrate National Corn Chip Day, including some of those listed here:
Munch On (and Share!) Some Corn Chips
In celebration of National Corn Chip Day, why not eat a bag of corn chips with some dips, such as salsa or guacamole, or even with melted cheese? It’s an ideal snack food.
Or, share in the love of the day with others by heading over to a bulk warehouse store and buying a giant pack of individually wrapped corn chips.
Then, pass them out at work, at school or in the neighborhood and declare, “Happy National Corn Chip Day” all along the way. People might wonder what’s happening, but they’ll also probably be happy to receive a little pick-me-up!
Get Creative with Corn Chips
A delightful way to enjoy this day would be to head on into the kitchen with a large bag of corn chips and see what kinds of unique and tasty treats can be built!
Whether looking to feed a family for a meal with a pile or loaded nachos or simply creating a snack that can be taken to a party, corn chips make an amazing base.
Check out some of these ideas for celebrating National Corn Chip Day:
- Walking Tacos. A great meal or snack to have on the go or serve at an outdoor party, walking tacos give each person an individual bag of chips and then add toppings like meat, cheese, beans and more.
- Gluten-Free Chicken Crust. Create a tasty crust for fried chicken or chicken fingers by making the crust out of corn chips instead of flour.
- Nacho Stuffed Peppers. Add some delightful crunch to traditional stuffed peppers by including corn chips on top at the end.
Consider Some Benefits of Corn Chips
An excellent way to get involved with celebrating National Corn Chip Day might be to get a bit more educated on the reasons why corn chips make a great snack.
While, like most snacks, they do have some negative qualities if too many are consumed, here are a few of the benefits of corn chips:
- Source of Dietary Fiber. The main ingredient in most corn chips is corn flour, which is high in fiber, which can help with the reduction of cholesterol or heart disease.
- Essential Vitamins and Minerals. Corn chips typically contain B Vitamins including folate, thiamine and niacin, as well as trace amounts of iron calcium and other minerals.
- Antioxidant Rich. The phytonutrients found in corn can supply antioxidants that help prevent and restore oxidative damage to protect from a variety of health problems.
History of National Corn Chip Day
The history of corn chips can be traced back to around a century ago, in 1932. The story goes that C.E. “Elmer” Doolin bought a bag of fried corn chips and enjoyed them so much he pawned his mother’s wedding ring (with her permission, one assumes…) to purchase the manufacturer and the recipe.
He started selling them from his car and now the company he founded is the largest manufacturer of corn chips in the USA, which is the Frito-Lay company.
While the corn chips created by Doolin’s and other companies at the time were in the shape of a rectangle, noodle or scoop, another style of corn chip developed in the 1940s when Rebecca Webb Caranza was searching for a way to use up her misshapen corn tortillas.
So she cut them into triangles and deep fried them, thus creating the tortilla chip, which is a subcategory of the corn chip.
National Corn Chip Day, celebrated since at least 2002, offers a delightful opportunity for people all around the world to show appreciation for and pay honor to the simplicity and ease of this delicious snack!
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