Pigs in a blanket from scratch

This is a recipe off the zaar...now food.com I guess...but you can find it here.
Hunter made these tonight for dinner and is getting better at following recipes everyday!  As a matter of fact I took a shower as he made them:)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
3/4 cup buttermilk
18 miniature hot dogs
Heat the over to 400ºF. Grease a large baking sheet. Sift the dry ingredients (flour through salt) into a mixing bowl (or dump them in one at a time, whatever).
2Rub the butter pieces into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly. Stir in cheese until evenly distributed.
3Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the buttermilk. Stir well with a wooden spoon. Let the dough sit for 3 minutes.
4Sprinkle the dough with flour and stir once or twice then turn out onto a well floured counter.
5With floured hands, pat the dough into a 15 by 7 inch rectangle, trimming the sides if necessary to get a true rectangle. (Handle the dough as little as possible for tenderness, yeah right).
6Using a pizza cutter, slice the rectangle into thirds horizontally then slice each third into thirds vertically, this will give you 9 small rectangles. Slice each rectangle diagonally into two thin triangles.
7One at a time, roll up the sausages in the triangles. Place pointy side down on greased cookie sheet.
8Bake for 12 to 13 minutes, until golden brown. Cool on the sheet for 3 minutes then tranfer to a wire rack.

Potato Hot Dogs

This was such a simple thing to do but it makes something that looks completely different from our usual hot dog meals and the kids loved it!

Make mashed potatoes.
Cut hot dogs down the middle and fill with potatoes.
Top with cheese.
Bake at 350 until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Corn Dogs

Tonight was supposed to be pizza but I am out of mozzarella so I had to come up with something else(since I had no urge to go to the store today).  I don't deep fry so this was not my first thought...of course it went over fantastic with the kids and I just hope they don't think we'll be eating them more than once every year or two. I used the recipe off hillbilly housewife.

• 1 cup milk
• 2 medium eggs
• 1/4 cup oil
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/3 cups corn meal
• 2/3 cup flour
• 1 to 1-1/2 pounds hot dogs
• flour for dusting (about 1/2 cup)
• Hot Fat for Deep Frying
• Popscicle sticks

In a large bowl combine the milk, eggs, oil, sugar and salt. Mix it very well. Sprinkle in the baking powder, corn meal and flour. Stir it all up to make a slightly thick batter.

Take your hot dogs and dry them off on paper towels. Dust the hot dogs with flour, coating them completely. The cornmeal batter won’t stick to the hot dogs unless they are coated in flour. The batter just slides right off of the wieners naturally slick outsides. Shove popscicle sticks into the flour coated hot dogs. Set the hot dogs aside.

While all of this is going on, it’s a good idea to get your hot fat to heating up. You want the temperature to be about 375F. Allow the fat to preheat so it is almost smoking by the time you are ready to add the corn dogs.

Now, to coat the floured hot dogs with batter you have two choices. You can swirl the hot dogs in the bowl of batter until they are coated, and then drop them into the hot fat. If this is a little difficult I know of an easier way. Scoop some of your corn meal batter into a narrow jar or cup which is as tall as your hot dogs are long. Fill the jar or cup about 3/4 of the way full. Dip your hot dog into the batter while you hold onto the stick. Swirl the hot dog to coat it evenly. Be careful or the batter will overflow. Raise the wiener above the cup and let any excess batter drip off. Quickly place the battered dog into the hot fat. The fat will bubble up and cook the outside of the batter, making the corndogs the exact same shape as the ones you buy at the store.

Only fry a few corn dogs at a time. If the corn dogs crowd each other they don’t fry very well. I only fry 2 or 3 at a time. Turn the corn dogs when the bottom side is well browned. Use tongs to remove the cooked corn dogs from the fat. Allow them to drain on paper towels. Repeat the process, coating and frying a few at a time, until all of the corn dogs are cooked. Refill the narrow jar or cup with batter from your bowl as necessary. Continue until all the hot dogs are coated or until you no longer have enough batter to coat the hot dogs efficiently.

If you don’t want to waste any unused batter, it can be dropped by small spoonfuls into the hot fat, and fried until brown. Serve these along side the corn dogs.

If desired, you can make small corn dogs by cutting hot dogs into thirds, or quarters. Poke a toothpick up into the end of the hot dogs. Coat and fry them as described above. These are nice for fancy days, and for kids parties. Provide plenty of ketchup and mustard for dipping.

This recipe makes about 12 to 14 corn dogs.

Pasta and smokie bake

I got this recipe from Shar and it was easy and so good

1 lb smokies, cut into small bites(I bought lil' smokies...14 ounce package)
1 jar (15 oz) spaghetti sauce---think mine was bigger
1 bag of pasta, cooked and drained--I think I used a 12 ounce box
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded cheese--I used cheddar
----------------
preheat oven 350 degrees
in greased qt baking dish combine
smokies (cook if needed, most are precooked) , sauce, penne pasta and parmesean cheese.
top with shredded cheese.
bake for 15-20 minutes

Chilidog and tots casserole

I added 8 cut up hot dogs,, put it all in a 9X13 disposable casserole dish and froze it whole. The original recipe is below from the 'zaar.
*made this 4-27-09* The entire casserole is gone in one meal! I liked it but everyone else absolutely loved it.

Chili Tots Casserole Recipe #143773
There's something about the combo of these two fast food favorites. However, when you're scraping up pennies to afford rent, eating out isn't an option. This dish is affordable and great because you can make two and freeze one. Also, you can make this a Chili dog and tots casserole by adding bite-sized hot dog pieces to the chili and serving with buns.
by Redneck Epicurean
50 min | 15 min prep

2 casseroles

1 lb ground beef (optional)
2 (15 ounce) cans chili without beans
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 (32 ounce) bag tater tots
Cook the beef and drain.
Stir in the chili and heat through.
Pour into 2 8" sprayed square baking dishes.
Sprinkle with the cheese and top with the tater tots.
Cover and freeze one casserole for up to three months.
Cover and bake the remaining casserole at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until heated through.
To use the frozen casserole: Remove from the freezer 30 minutes before baking (do not thaw). Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hrs or until heated through.

Hot dog Casserole

I had a feeling this would go over well and it definitely did. Everyone liked it and it was super fast to throw together after grocery shopping tonight.

8 hot dogs(I used turkey)
1 big can Bush's baked beans
2 boxes jiffy cornbread mix

Slice hot dogs and mix with beans. Put in large baking dish. Mix cornbread by package directions. Spread over hot dog mixture. Bake at 350 until hot and bubbly and cornbread is done.

Hot dog muffins

I didn't get a picture of these... It ended up making 18. I thought they were good but everyone else thought they were awesome:)


Ingredients
2 (8 1/2 ounce) packages cornbread mix
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 (11 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
5 hot dogs, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Directions
1Combine mix and brown sugar, add eggs and milk stirring only until moistened.
2Stir in drained corn, hot dogs, and cheese. Batter will be thin.
3Fill paper lined muffin cups 2/3 full.
4Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until tops are brown.
5Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Redneck Casserole

I picked this for my week on the recipe group a long time ago...I'm guessing I had a frugal theme. Finally got around to making it and we had it with a leafy green salad. Totally a kid favorite meal!

1 (28 ounce) can baked beans
6-8 hot dogs
4 cups tater tots
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Set your oven to 450.

Dump your can of baked beans into a casserole dish. Set the dish aside.

Cut up your hot dogs into bite sized pieces and throw those into your casserole dish and mix until dogs are well coated with baked bean sauce.

Cover the bean and dog mixture with tater tots. We usually use a couple handfuls. Use as many as you'd like. Just make sure to cover the mixture completely.

Place the casserole dish in the oven for 1/2 an hour or until tater tots are golden brown.

When Redneck Casserole is all cooked up, turn off the oven and sprinkle the top with cheese.Redneck Casserole is completely done when cheese is melted and you just can't take it anymore -- dig in!

Scalloped Potatoes n Franks

This was terrific! Corrine gave it a 1000, Hunter gave it a 10 and I agree with Hunter. Justin also quite liked it(without any sausage). I used sausage instead of hot dogs and baked it in a 9X12 glass casserole dish.
This is another recipe from Shar=)

Scalloped Potatoes n Franks

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons chopped onion

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 cups milk

1 cup shredded cheese

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

5 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

8 hot dogs, halved lengthwise and sliced

Directions

In a saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until blended. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in cheese until melted. Add parsley. Place half of the potatoes in a greased baking dish; top with half of the sauce. Arrange hot dogs over the sauce. Top with remaining potatoes and sauce. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or until bubbly. Uncover and bake 10 minutes longer or until lightly browned.

Shar's Chili Dog Casserole

I just printed this out for the family cookbook so am going to post it here too.

Shar's Chili Dog Casserole

2 15 oz cans of chili
1 package of Frankfurters
6 Flour tortillas
1 cup shredded cheddar(I use LOTS more but not in this picture obviously)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
2. Spread 1 can of the chili on the bottom of a 9X13 inch baking dish. Roll up franks inside tortillas and place in baking dish, seam side down, on top of chili. Top with remaining can of chili and sprinkle with cheese.
3. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake at 425 for 30 minutes.