Pigs in a blanket

Never did I think...Gee, I think we need to incorporate more hot dogs into our diet!  But since I'm on a cost-cutting mission, it's a cheap way to eat!  I wait for the dogs to go on sale for 99 cents, (preferably Oscar Mayer) then stock up. Maybe I should write a book on a 100 creative ways to have hot dogs for dinner, LOL!  Here's what you need to make these:

Ingredients:

8 Hot Dogs

2 slices American Cheese

Roll/Bun dough (Recipe HERE)

Remember the dough I saved from the rolls I made the other day?  I'm going to put that to use today by making pigs in a blanket.  The first thing you need to do is prep your dogs.  Take them out of the package and blot them dry with a paper towel.  Using a butter knife, cut a slit thru the middle of the dog.

 

Cut each piece of cheese into 4 strips.

Stuff a piece of cheese into the slit you made.

Now prep your dough.  Unwrap and place on floured surface.

With a floured rolling pin, roll out into as close to a circle shape as you can.

Using a pizza cutter, cut into 8 triangles.

Place your cheese-stuffed dog on the wide end of the dough triangle.

Wrap tightly, rolling toward the point.  Continue with remaining dogs.

Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Pop into a 350 oven

and bake for 10-12 minutes.  (Your oven may vary...just watch them)

I'm baking half now and freezing half for later. 

Be careful, these babies are HOT inside!  The whole meal you see

below cost only THIRTY ONE cents!

For freezing the rest, here's what I did.  I placed the remaining dogs 

on a plate lined with waxed paper.  Put in freezer until they are frozen 

solid.  Then you can take the plate out and stash the bag into a 

corner of your freezer without worrying about them sticking together. 

Notes:

The bread on these was so cheap because I stashed 4 pieces of roll dough away the other day.  You just need to wrap it in cellophane and put in the fridge before the 2nd rise. One of those rolls costs 6 cents, but since I made 4 rolls into 8 wraps, these are now only 3 cents each! 

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Hot Dogs...again!

Here was yesterday's lunch.  A hot dog (of which I'm becoming very accustom to having on an all-too-regular basis), some leftover corn and a quarter of an orange.  This whole lunch came to only TWENTY EIGHT CENTS!  That just amazes me!

The hot dog only cost 10 cents.  The corn was on sale for .33 for a big 15oz can (this is about 1/7 of that can, or a 1/4 cup), the orange only costs 6 cents for a 1/4 of one, and the bun is homemade, coming in at a whopping six cents.  Maybe I should make a page for meals under 50 cents!  Who woulda thunk?!

Dogitos

I used to buy the premium franks that cost $3.69 for a pack.  I like them because they don't have any fillers/nitrates/nitrites/by-products/artificial colors, etc...  However, our budget being what it is, I had to make an executive decision. So I broke down and bought the cheapos.  These were on sale for 99c a pack, so I bought four and froze them. If I can get these at 1/4 the price of my usual dogs, it's worth it.  It won't kill us. Hopefully.  Maybe.  Not sure about the Nitrates.  ;)

Since I had so many hot dogs, I thought I'd better come up with a creative way to eat them.  I made one of these for Tommy's lunch today and he loved it.   He calls it the "dog-ito".  Super easy and really cheap!   While certainly not the most healthy of lunches, it's better than something fried. (Like the potato chips right along side of it, lol!)

Here is your list of ingredients (per serving)
1 Corn or Flour Tortilla
1 Hot Dog
1/4 Slice of American Cheese
Olive Oil
Toothpicks
Pastry Brush

Using the pastry brush, smear olive oil on both sides of the tortilla.  

I only used maybe 1/4t on each side.

Place your 1/4 slice of cheese down 

and put the hot dog on top of it.

Roll it away from you, like a little burrito 

and seal with toothpicks, noting how easily

your tortilla splits and wishing you had

heated the darn thing up first!

Place in your toaster oven on some parch.

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes,  turning

half way through. 

Carefully remove from toaster oven

and let cool for a few minutes.  

They're a lot hotter inside than outside!

Update: 
I made these again today, but fried them in about 1/4" of oil.
If you fry your tortilla for a few seconds on each side, they roll up much
more easily.  (they're screaming hot though)  You can also place them seam side
down in the oil first and it will hold itself together!  See my picture!
This is after turning it a 1/4 turn.

These were very crunchy and tasty, but a little more
fattening than baking them, so I served it with some fruit.

Notes and what I learned:

If you heat up your tortilla (or possibly use fresher ones than I did), they won't split so badly.

If you fry them, be sure to place the tortilla in the hot oil for a few seconds before rolling up.  This way, it won't crack at all, but you have to watch your fingers...ouch!  Using tongs, place seam-side down in pan.  Then, when you turn them, the seam will stick together without the toothpicks!

You really only need 1/4 slice of cheese in these.  If you put any more, it will ooze out the ends and make a mess.

I wish I would have gotten them a little browner when I baked them, but they did taste very good.

One serving of this costs on 24 CENTS!  I usually serve Tommy's lunch with a piece of fruit, but today he begged me for chips.  We buy the BBQ ones from Aldi's and they're really good...and cheap!  With the chips, it still came to only 40 cents for lunch!  You can't eat that cheap anywhere!

You could also fry these for an awesome crunch!  If you try dogitos, let me know how your kids liked them!

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