Hot Dog Roundup for Memorial Day

Chances are you'll be grilling out with friends or family this weekend as part of your Memorial Day celebration. I've put together a list of our favorite specialty hot dog recipes...it's not just ketchup and mustard around here!

The Avocado and White Sauce Dog, featuring thick slices of avocado and our homemade sauce

The Texas Ranger, featuring grilled onions, bacon, and BBQ sauce

The Salsa Dog, featuring mango peach salsa

BBQ and Peppers, featuring sweet banana peppers and your favorite BBQ sauce

CornDogs, featuring a that carnival treat made at home

Pretzel Dogs, this is probably our favorite right now! homemade pretzel dough wrapped around your favorite dog and baked to perfection.

What's on your menu this Memorial Day? Give one of these dogs a try or let me know your favorite fixins!

Hot Dog Challenge: Pretzel Dog

Last summer we had a lot of fun with our "hot dog challenge" - going beyond ketchup and mustard to make speciality hot dogs at home. Recently I tried a new recipe that is quite possibly our favorite way to have hot dogs now....Pretzel dogs!

These tasty hot dogs are amazing! The pretzel is fantastic and takes hot dogs to a whole new level. Seriously, these are a must try. The pretzel dough is simple to make, and a quick baking soda bath before baking gives the outside a crispy pretzel finish. The original dough calls for beer, but I've also used water and both ways tasted great.

Mix the pretzel dough and let it rise for about an hour. The dough will make 8 very large pretzel dogs. The first time I made these I thought that the pretzel was actually a little too much compared to the hot dogs, so this last time I made some pretzel bite appetizers ahead of time while we waited for the dogs. I just decreased the bake time to 10 minutes.

After the dough has risen, put a large pot of water on to boil and add baking soda. Watch it carefully! Boil overs can happen quickly with baking soda in the water. 

Divide the remaining dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a log about 12 inches long. Starting at one end of the hot dog, wrap the dough around, covering the entire hot dog. Use your fingers to pinch the dough at each end to seal it.

Once all the hot dogs are wrapped and the water is boiling, place the hot dogs into the boiling water for about 30 seconds each. They will sink initially and then float to the surface. Depending on the size of your pot, you may be able to do 2-4 at a time. Here you see how large I roll out the dough, a wrapped dog, and a boiled dog (on the right).

 Remove from the water and let sit on a wire rack or cutting board for a minute to dry. Place on a stone or baking sheet (I use our pizza stone), brush with olive oil, and top with salt if desired. 

Bake for 15 minutes at which point the pretzel dogs will be golden brown and crispy on top.

Serve with ketchup and mustard! These are even fantastic reheated in the oven for lunch the next day.

Pretzel Dogs (via Karla's Veggie Noms)

For the dough:

1/2 c. warm water

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

2 tsp. salt

1 c. warm beer (or water)

2 1/4 tsp. yeast

2 Tablespoons oil

4 1/2 c. flour

Put water, brown sugar, salt, beer (or additional water), and yeast in the mixing bowl. Gradually add flour and oil to make a smooth dough. Remove from bowl with floured hands and form dough into a ball. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a wet towel. Let it rise in a warm place for an hour.

When the dough has risen, boil a large pot of water, adding 1/2-2/3 cup baking soda. I just eyeballed it. While the water is boiling, cut the dough into 8 pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a rope about 12 inches long. Starting at one end of the hot dog, wrap the dough around, covering the entire hot dog. Use your fingers to pinch the dough at each end to seal it.

Once all the hot dogs are wrapped and the water is boiling, place the hot dogs into the boiling water for about 30 seconds each. They will sink initially and then float to the surface. Depending on the size of your pot, you may be able to do 2-4 at a time.

Remove from the water and let sit on a wire rack or cutting board for a minute to dry. Place on a stone or baking sheet (I use our pizza stone), brush with olive oil, and top with salt if desired. Bake for 15 minutes at which point the pretzel dogs will be golden brown and crispy on top.

Serve with ketchup and mustard! Also great heated up the next day for lunch :-)

Salami and Avocado Melt

I made this amazing sandwich for lunch the other day. It totally reminded me of something that I would get at Panera Bread!

The ingredients: salami and turkey pastrami, half an avocado, sliced, topped with swiss cheese. I spread dijon mustard on the bread and grilled it to make a nice melt.

I think the only way it could have been better is with a thick slice of fresh tomato...mmmm! I always love the challenge of knocking off restaurant favorites at home. Not only is it a lot more cost effective to buy the ingredients myself, but its fun to get to play around with new combinations too.

Do you have a favorite gourmet sandwich combo that you make at home?

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup

I'm always looking for ways to make connivence foods at home. Not only is it healthier and cheaper, but there is something so satisfying about walking past items on the grocery store shelf that I used to consider pantry staples. I love not having to rely on having a can of soup, a box of cake mix, or a container of yogurt on hand. If I need it, I can make it!

I had never thought much about condensed cooking soups. They have always been a pantry staple for me, especially for a quick dinner. Thanks to Pinterest I found a recipe for homemade cream of chicken soup via Mindfully Frugal Mom. I love how easy it was to make and how great it tasted!

You will need:
1 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup milk

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Add 1/4 cup of chicken stock (I used 4 cubes of frozen homemade stock) and 1/2 cup milk. Add the liquid slowly while stirring to prevent lumps. Allow to cook for a few minutes until it beings to thicken.

How easy is that?

I used the homemade cream of chicken soup for Cheesy Baked Chicken (I made it in the crockpot instead of the oven too) and it was fabulous.

Next time, I will plan to make a larger portion and freeze the soup in 1 cup portions, about the size of a can from the store. I'm so excited to have this recipe and no longer need to buy cream soups for cooking!

Easy Roast Chicken

We love rotisserie chickens, especially from Costco. So juicy and moist, and a whole chicken can transform into several meals. Over the last year I finally got up my nerve to roast a chicken on my own. And I am totally hooked!

Each time I do it they taste better and better and are easier and simpler. I think I actually prefer my own roasted chicken to one from Costco now!

There are tons of options for roasting a chicken, but here is my super easy recipe.

Preheat oven to 400. Rinse chicken, removing any giblets from the cavity. Pat the chicken dry and do a quick check to remove any feathers that are still attached. Place the chicken in a baking dish. I'd love to have a Le Creuset dutch oven, but since I don't I just use a large Pyrex dish.

In a small dish, soften 1 Tbsp. butter (about 15 sec in the microwave). Using a silicone pastry brush (or just a spoon), mix in your seasonings. This time I used about a teasp. of dry parsley and a teasp. of Italian seasonings, along with some sea salt. Brush (or rub) the butter and herbs all over the chicken. You could peel up the skin and rub under also, but I've had great results shortcutting it on that lately! I also stuffed some onion in the chicken cavity, and added some to the baking dish.

Bake for 30-40 minutes. Check how brown the chicken is getting, baste with butter and juices in the pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Check and baste again. Usually at this point I cover the chicken with some foil. Bake for 15 minutes, check, then bake for 15 more minutes. The chicken should be completely done at this point (1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours total bake time). Let it sit for 5-10 minutes before you cut and serve to allow the juices to set nicely. Enjoy!

There are tons of variations...basically do whatever your family likes! Add different seasonings to the butter, add lemon juice. Bake with potatoes and carrots, or even oranges for a twist. The possibilities are endless, and I love that there's very little hands on time!

Are you a rotisserie chicken family? It's a great feeling to walk by the chickens in the store and know that one of them can come out of my oven now!

Favorite Warmer weather recipes

This week is shaping up to be very mild, especially for February. The changes in the weather always make me think of certain foods and drinks that we usually have seasonally. Here are a few of my favorites.

Cherry Limeade - one of my favorites! I think my recipe takes just like Sonic!

Frozen Strawberry Lemonade - a refreshing mix of sweet and tangy.

Smoothies - all varieties. Recently we've been adding oatmeal to ours inspired by Full Measure of Happiness. I use 1 c. milk, 1/2 c. oatmeal, 5-6 whole strawberries, 4-5 cubes frozen pineapple juice.

I'm also looking forward to trying out a few new recipes. I just spied this one for homemade fruit roll ups from Joy of Jello. Don't they look fantastic?

 (Image)

Any recipes to share?

Broccoli Chicken Cheddar Braided Crescent Recipe

This is our new favorite meal!

This beautiful braided crescent is easy and quick - as in the whole thing is prepped while your oven preheats! That's my kind of dinner. I saw this recipe on Food Family Finds, and knew I had to try it.

Mix together chicken (I've used canned chicken as well as Cousin Darlene's chicken), broccoli, cheese, egg, and mayo together in a bowl. When I used leftover chicken I didn't add the mayo.

Spread your crescent rolls out to form a rectangle. You can use store-bought crescents, but I've been making my own and they are fantastic! I think I've actually cured myself of the urge to buy Pillsbury crescent rolls! (recipe below)

Add the chicken mixture to the middle of the crescent roll rectangle. Then use kitchen shears or a knife to make strips along each side. (this looks like the braided calzone, doesn't it?!?)

Beginning from one end, alternate sides, pulling the dough across at an angle. Each strip should be close to the one before it, but it certainly does not need to be perfect.

This part actually goes quickly...

and yet the final result is awesome!

Brush the braid with a wash of egg white mixed with a tablespoon of water. Top with more cheese if desired.

Bake in your preheated oven at 375 for 30 minutes...golden, cheesy, and delicious!

Homemade Crescent Roll Recipe (adapted from food.com)
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Crisco
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour

Beat eggs and sugar until well combined. Add sugar, Crisco, water, yeast, salt, and 2 cups flour. Gradually add remaining 2 cups of flour. Turn out onto a well floured surface and knead in enough additional flour so the dough is no longer sticky. I usually do not have to add much additional flour. Divide the dough in half - each half makes about 12 crescent rolls or one broccoli chicken braid.

To make immediately, let dough rise in a warm place for about 1 hour. Then shape dough into crescent rolls and bake or flatten on a cookie sheet for the braid.

To make later, store in the refrigerator without rising. As long as you let it sit for about 4 hours, that will be sufficient rise time in the fridge. Or store for up to 4 days and use as above. 

Broccoli Chicken Cheddar Braided Crescent Recipe (adapted from Food Family Finds)

2 cups chicken, cooked and chunked - use canned or leftover chicken for minimal prep
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups chopped frozen broccoli, thawed
1 egg yolk (reserve egg white for wash)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
rosemary (or other preferred herb)
crescent roll recipe (above) or 2 cans of Pillsbury crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 375. Combine chopped chicken, cheese, broccoli, egg yolk, mayo, and rosemary in a bowl. Spread crescent roll dough onto a large cookie sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Add the chicken mixture to the middle of the dough. Using kitchen shears or a knife, cut strips along each side of the chicken. Start from one end and alternate sides, pulling a strip of dough across to the opposite side. When the whole braid is finished, add about 1 Tablespoon of water to the reserved egg white and brush the top of the braid with the wash. Sprinkle additional cheese if desired. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. Slice and enjoy!

Chick-Fil-A style chicken nugget recipe

One of the most read posts on Thrifty Living is the Chick-fil-a nugget recipe. It always makes me cringe slightly when I click back through the post, though, because the pictures are not some of my best quality! So, here is an updated post of the same recipe.

You will need:
Cooking Oil {you can use Peanut but it is not necessary} -- I always use vegetable oil and they taste great
1 Egg
1 Cup of Milk
1 Cup of Flour
2 1/2 Tablespoons of Powdered Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Tablespoon of Salt (I cut that in half)
2 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast, cut in strips or cubed 

First mix together the egg and milk and let the chicken pieces set in the mixture. (There is plenty of speculation that Chick-fil-a adds dill pickle juice to the marinade, but I've never done this). In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and pepper and stir.

I let it soak for an hour or so. Its nice to be able to prep everything before hand so all I have to do is coat and cook the chicken when its time to eat.

Heat oil (I used a cast iron skillet on the stove over medium heat). Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture until coated. I usually double dip - so egg/milk, then flour, back to egg/milk, then flour.

Place chicken in hot oil. Cook about 5 minutes per side, depending on the size of your nuggets. Resist the urge to flip too early! You want them to be golden brown.

Once the chicken is cooked on both sides, remove from oil and place on a paper towel to dry. I usually cook mine in two batches.

Be sure to pair with your favorite dipping sauces...we use BBQ, ranch dip, blu cheese dip, ketchup, or honey.

These are really best the day they are cooked. We usually have a few leftovers, and they are just not the same the next day!

Originally from Under the Table and Dreaming, though you can find it on many different blogs as well.

Charlotte's Web Birthday Cake

This weekend was our daughter's 3rd birthday! We had a great time celebrating, and I especially had fun making her special birthday cake. This year I asked her what she would like on her cake, and amid the dozen or so different ideas, she kept coming back to "animals". 

I looked at a bunch of different animal cake ideas online, and while a bear or a monkey or a fish were all cute (and I'm sure she would have loved it), I wanted to do something a little more specific and personal. I found a video with instructions for a barn cake with farm animals on Betty Crocker, and the idea was born...Charlotte's Web!

We read Charlotte's Web aloud this past year and she really enjoyed the book. I made a special Wilbur cupcake for her. (I made the cake from scratch using this chocolate cake recipe from the Frugal Girl. And I bought canned icing...priorities!)

I made a number of changes to the instructions to make it fit our needs, specifically I omitted all of the coconut! Instead of coconut hay and grass, I just used colored sugar sprinkled on the barn. I also added a spiderweb to the open door of the barn, along with a secret message from Charlotte...can you see it?

The barn was simple; I made 4 cuts in the cake to create a slanted barn roof. Then frosted the whole thing and dragged my offset spatula from top to bottom to create a slat effect for the barn. The red frosting was a little tough to get right. I used a red gel in white icing and followed the tip in the video of adding a little cocoa powder to get a better red color. It was a little more of a faded red than I had hoped, but it still worked well. I used graham crackers for the roof and the barn doors, and pretzels for the doorframes.

For the pigs, I used pink M&Ms in the snout, chocolate chips for eyes, and rolled out fruit leather cut into triangles for the ears.

The sheep were supposed to be covered with mini-marshmallows that were cut in half. My cutting in half didn't work great so I opted to squish them flat instead. I also squished marshmallows into rectangles for the sheep ears instead of gumdrops.

The chicks were rolled in yellow sugar...I love the sleek and clean way they look! I used an orange Starburst candy for the beaks - flattened some with a rolling pin and then cut into little beak shapes. Chocolate chips for the eyes again here.

Check out last year's cake also...cupcake train!

Traveling Ideas & Thanksgiving Links

If your family is anything like ours, then you will probably be doing a fair amount of traveling for the upcoming holidays. And traveling with little ones in the car is always a bit of a challenge. The last few months we've been putting together some ideas for the car that don't involve watching movies or playing computer/tech games. Here are a few favorites!

Color Matching/Fine motor skills (Inspiration):

These are made from paint chip samples! I used two of each identical paint chip, one I cut up and glued to clothes pins, the second for the clothes pins to be clipped on.

To make the paint chips a little more durable and to minimize the number of clothespins I needed, I doubled the up the paint chips. Purple on the back of green, blue on the back of orange, etc. This is super fun!

Tracing pages (Inspiration):

We use plastic page protectors and a dry erase marker to make these reusable tracing pages. There are tons of tracing pages that are free to print! These are Thanksgiving themed, but we switch them up based on the seasons.

My daughter also enjoys tracing letters and numbers this way.

Another favorite for adults and children alike is audio books! We check out a lot of audio books from the library. Some recent favorites including Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (With CD),

The Billy Goat's Gruff, and Scuffy the Tugboat..

I also wanted to include a few favorite bread recipes that are great for special occasions (or really any day!).

Homemade Beer Bread. Mmmm I just made a loaf of this yesterday. Its so simple to make and way less expensive than those pre-packaged mixes. And great toasted with butter for breakfast!

I love The Frugal Girl's recipe for Honey-Glazed rolls. These are awesome...you really should try them!

And of course, a favorite all fall long for us was Pumpkin Spice Scones.

Do you have any car activities that are family favorites? Or a special recipe that you are making this Thanksgiving? Please share!