De-junking our snack food habits

July 21 is National Junk Food Day, according to Holidayinsights.com. Most of us enjoy a good snack to calm the hunger cravings now and then between meals, but do we, as Americans, really need an excuse to eat more junk food? NHANES, the U.S. survey documenting nutrition and health habits of Americans, found that in adults 31-59 years of age, more than 50% exceeded the recommended limit of 10% of daily calories from added sugar, more than 70% exceeded the recommended daily limit for intake of saturated fat, and more than 80% exceeded the recommended daily limit of 2300 mg sodium per day. Such excesses in our dietary habits are contributing to the rise in chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Many of the snack foods we eat can be considered "junk food", a term which describes foods high in sugar, fat and/or sodium while also low in valuable nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber. Unfortunately, such junk foods have taken the place of many more nutritious alternatives. Again, looking at NHANES data, about 95% of Americans ages 1 year through adulthood have diets insufficient in whole grains, 90% of Americans do not eat recommended amounts of vegetables, 85% of us don't consume enough dairy foods, and 80% lack fruit in their daily intake. We can reverse this trend, by "de-junking" our snack foods and making them higher in some of these lacking food groups, without sacrificing good taste — especially this time of year, when fresh fruits and vegetables abound. Below are some snack food recipes that may tempt most any taste bud and are easy on the pocket book, as they were developed for Ohio State University's SNAP-Ed online resource, Celebrate Your Plate. Summer Salsa Makes 3-4 cups salsa 1 medium zucchini, diced 4 cloves garlic, minced, or 4 tsp garlic powder 1 onion, diced&emsp;&emsp; ½ cup fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped 3 Roma or medium tomatoes, diced ¼ cup lime or lemon juice & ½ tsp salt (Optional) 1 jalapeno pepper (seeds removed and chopped) 1. Combine all chopped vegetables in medium bowl. Add seasonings and juice. 2. Chill in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend. 3. Serve with tortilla chips or whole grain crackers. Banana Oatmeal Cookies &emsp;&emsp; Makes 12 cookies 3 ripe bananas &emsp;&emsp; 3 cups quick-cooking oats 1 tsp. ground cinnamon &emsp;&emsp; (Optional) Half a cup chocolate chips 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking sheet with non-stick spray or cover with foil. 2. Mash bananas in large bowl and stir in cinnamon, oats and chocolate chips. 3. Measure out 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball for each cookie. 4. Place on a baking sheet, and slightly flatten the tops. 5. Bake for 12 minutes. Cookies will not visually brown, but are done cooking. 6. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before serving or storing. Yogurt Fruit Pops &emsp;&emsp; Makes 10 pops 1 20-oz. can crushed pineapple in juice, drained &emsp;&emsp; 3 oz. paper cups and wooden popsicle sticks 2 cups (plain or vanilla) lowfat yogurt 12 oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate, slightly thawed 1. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl until well combined 2. Divide mixture into 10 paper cups 3. Place on tray and freeze until slushy, about 60 minutes. Then place popcicle stick into center of each cup. 4. Freeze until hard, or for additional 4 hours. Peel away the paper cup to eat the fruit pop. 5. May substitute 1 and a half cups of other fresh or drained canned fruit, mashed into small pieces or chopped in a blender, and combine with other types of frozen 100% juice concentrate. For more ideas of healthy snack ideas and other recipes, check out the following resources: · Celebrate Your Plate: https://celebrateyourplate.org · Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: https://www.eatright.org/recipes · Wexner Medical Center site: https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/nutrition-services/recipes · American Heart Association Healthy for Good: Recipes: https://recipes.heart.org · American Diabetes Association's Diabetes Food Hub: https://www.diabetesfoodhub.org/all-recipes.html Little is family and consumer sciences educator with Ohio State University — Hancock County Extension.