Tales From My Misspent Youth

This afternoon I was wandering around thinking of my teenage life living in a trailer park south of town and all the mischief I used to get into, then I remembered I actually grew up in the suburbs in a 3/2 ranch and about the worst thing I did was burn some socks I was tired of wearing. Why then was I having this overwhelming hankering for TRAILER TRASH COOKERY? Oh yeah, it was because we had been out of town for a few days and I had few groceries so decided to just find something to make from the low stash I had on hand. For proteins I had my choice of canned tuna, canned ham, canned chicken, eggs and hotdogs. Not a lot to choose from and I could eliminate all the canned meats right off the bat. That left me deciding between eggs or dogs. I flipped through a cookbook I had not looked at in years and found recipes for both, so a simple "eeny meeny minie mo" sealed my supper time fate. Well it actually chose eggs, but when I mentally went "Yuck" I decided I would rather do the hot dog thing.

Every one has been to a fair or carnival and bought and eaten a corn dog. It's not a masterpiece or food perfection but its a dang tasty walking around treat. Well this is the casserole alternative to the traditional fair fare. It is called Baked Corn Dog and I guess it is a pretty succinct name because it is indeed a baked loose variation of a corn dog.

Live Don't DIEt Vicki Parks

Baked Corn Dogs

1 1/2 cups self rising corn meal

1/2 cup fat free egg substitute

3/4 cup water

3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

5 97 percent fat free hot dogs

Combine the cornmeal, egg substitute, water and applesauce in a mixing bowl. Spray an 8x8 pan with Pam and lay the five hotdogs in the bottom of the pan, spacing them equally from each other. Pour the cornmeal mix over the dogs and pop into a 425 degree oven. Bake 25-30 minutes. Cut into 5 equal portions with one intact hotdog in each serving.

Personal changes and observations: Use yellow cornmeal instead of white! I used the white and there was little color when it was finished baking. I think the yellow would just be more visually pleasing. I also confess I used skimmed milk rather than water. I also added a teaspoon of lemon juice and let it sit about 15 minutes before mixing everything together, just so the cornbread would taste more like buttermilk. I would think fat free buttermilk would also work, but I didn't have any on hand. The applesauce replaces the fat and also adds a little familiar corn dog batter sweetness. I only use Hebrew National ultra low fat hot dogs. They taste really good plus Publix has them in their BOGO rotation. I pick up 2 packs each time they are Bogo so I always have a pack in the fridge.

The Hebrew Nationals are only 1 WW point each (At least 1 old WW point. I have no idea what they are on the new Points Plus and I don't guess I ever will. After spending nearly 2 hours on the computer looking for the diet I gave up and will follow the old points plan. I don't have the time or the willingness to follow them through click, after click, after click to watch another video or testimonial. I feel like Dragnet, I just want the facts...but they don't want to deliver them in a way I am willing to do, so I am sticking with the old plan.) Rant over!

They were easy to separate into individual servings, but one was not enough food for either The Hub or Son3. They both had 2 and I think Son3 would have loved at least one more. I was kind of surprised that they both liked them very much. The Hub and I topped ours with some mustard squiggles and Son3 drowned his in ketchup. It did need the topping for both color and a hint of flavor. When I do them next time I will mince red onion and maybe a combination of green pepper and jalapeno's. I think a little heat would have made it a little more satisfying. We had a side of slaw, (bagged shredded cabbage mixed with matchstick carrots tossed with a low fat mayo/champagne vinegar/cajun spices dressing) pickles and a side dish of asparagus spears ( And yes, I know it does not go with the meal but they were in the crisper and had to be cooked tonight!) If I had thought of it earlier I would have made some "fries" from sweet potato wedges, sprayed with Pam and baked to a crisp. It would have made the meal a tad more filling. If there had been one additional fake corn dog I would have eaten it because I was still a little hungry. I will make this again, just not for a while!