Bagel Dogs

Yet another Real Mom Kitchen recipe that I just couldn't pass up! As I've mentioned before, we are big Macaroni and Cheese fans in this house! That being said, I have more macaroni and cheese AND packages of hot dogs in my stockpile than the average person eats in their entire life. Add to that the fact that I am sick and tired of macaroni and cheese and hot dogs, I knew it was time to start experimenting with new recipes to get these hot dogs used up. What I really wanted to make was Pigs in a Blanket, but I didn't have any sliced cheese on hand, and I was not about to run out to the grocery store just for sliced cheese. So I decided to give this recipe a whirl!

These are super amazingly good! A plump, warm hot dog wrapped up in a blanket of soft, chewy bagel bread just really hits the spot! Next time, I may add some cheese wrapped around the hotdog before I wrap the dough around, but otherwise, I pretty much left this recipe as is and was very happy with the results. As was hubs. Now I'm off to try and find a recipe for pretzel dogs...because this just got the ball rolling on things I can do with the umpteen meeeelion packages of hot dogs I have stored in our deep freeze (okay. not quite that many. but close.)

Ingredients...

...2 cups warm water

...4 1/2 tsp. yeast

...3 T. sugar

...3 tsp. salt

...5 1/2 c. flour 

...12 hot dogs

...2 tsp. baking soda

...1 egg yolk

...Salt for garnish 

Directions...

Pour the warm water into the bowl of your stand mixer and add the yeast. Let stand until foamy. Stir in sugar and salt and turn the mixer on low speed. Gradually add flour until a smooth, elastic dough has formed. Using the dough hook, knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Place the dough into a clean, well greased bowl and turn to make sure all sides of the dough are covered with grease. Cover and let stand in a warm, draft free place for an hour. Once the dough has risen, punch down and place onto a floured workspace. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until about 1/4" thick. Using a kitchen scissors, cut the dough into strips about 1" wide (approximately 10-12 strips). Wrap each strip around a hot dog, overlapping each layer slightly. Place on a greased baking sheet and cover. Let sit in a warm, draft free place to rise for about 45 minutes. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the dough has browned. Serve warm.

Slow Cooker Beans 'N' Weenies

When the weather outside is frightful...this dish is quite delightful!

There is no doubt in my mind that at some point so far this school year, you have had your kids at home with you due to a snowday. Therefore, you've had some hungry voices asking "whats for lunch?" and you want to be sure to fill them up with something tasty, warm, and kid friendly. I don't have kids (yet! Due in May!) but on one particular snow day evening, we had a few people end up spending the night due to untravelable roads...so when I found out that our house would be full, I turned to Stephanie over at A Year of Slowcooking for a quick and easy crockpot recipe that was sure to please on a chilly day. And it did.

Except, I advise you to think ahead on the whole serving beans to a group of grown men...enough said.

How 'bout some beans 'n' weenies? You can't go wrong with this dish when there are kids involved. Actually, you can't go wrong with this dish, even when kids aren't involved :) This is the perfect snow day meal, just pair it with some warm homemade bread and you've got yourself a tummy filling, heartwarming winter meal!

Ingredients...

...4 cups beans (they're in the crock already. That's why they aren't in the picture)
...2 pkg. hot dogs
...4 cups bbq sauce

Directions...

Place cooked beans, cut up hot dogs and bbq sauce in the crockpot and stir until well combined. Cook on low for 4-5 hours or on high for 2-3.

Mummy Dogs

Happy Halloween!! I hope that your kids aren't all hopped up on sugar and that you still have some sanity left! And for those of you who don't have kids yet...I hope you enjoy passing out candy to other people's kids so they can get all hopped up! If you need a tasty and non sugary filler for your tummies, then here is a tasty and mummy-tastic (don't hate me for my bad attempts at humor!) treat!

Ingredients...

No Picture, sorry!

Like you need a picture anyways...there's only three ingredients!

...Hot Dogs
...one tube Crescent Rolls
...Ketchup, Mustard, Relish, etc.

Directions...

Wrap hot dogs in crescent rolls to create a mummy "head wrap" and mummy "body" on the hot dog. Bake at 375 for 12-14 minutes. Decorate with condiments. Eat. Follow up with candy in the true spirit of Halloween.

Corn Dog Casserole

I had a few requests for this one on last week's menu plan...sorry it took me so long to make it!

The Ingredients...

...2 tbs. butter
...2 cups sliced celery (not pictured)
...1 small, yellow onion
...1 package hot dogs
...2 eggs, beaten
...1 1/2 cups milk
...1 tsp. sage
...1/4 tsp. black pepper
...2 (8 oz) pkgs. corn meal mix
...Cheese to garnish

Directions...

Preheat oven to 400*. Over medium heat, melt butter in a large skillet. Saute celery and onions in butter until soft. Set aside in small bowl. Slice hotdogs into quarters, and then into small pieces. Saute in same skillet used for celery/onion. Mix into celery and onion mixture, and set aside one cup of mixture. In a medium bowl, combine eggs, milk, sage, pepper and corn bread mix. Stir well to combine and add in hot dog mixture. Spread into a greased 9x13 baking pan and top with remaining 1 cup of hot dog mixture. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

My Thoughts...

I didn't particularly care for this, I thought it came out pretty dry. The flavor was good and all, but it really could have used something to make it a little less dry. Hubs, however, LOVVEEDD this! He asked me everyday after I made this if there was any left, because he wanted to take leftovers to work. This would be a very kid friendly recipe as well, and is a great alternative to corn dogs in a pinch!