The Lowly Hot Dog

The Lowly Hot Dog

 

 

I love hot dogs. There I said it! When I admit my love of these red and sometimes white delicacies to other people I often hear things like. Hot dogs are for kids. They are so low class! My all time favorite comments are you don’t know what is in those hot dogs or you are eating chicken lips! Really? Chicken lips? We all know that chickens don’t have lips but I get their meaning. My response is look I eat Cotto Salami which has beef hearts in it so eating hot dogs is nothing when you consider that fact.

I grew up in Rochester the home of the white hot dog and the garbage plate so I didn’t stand a chance of growing up and not loving the dog.

Anyway I am getting off track. We are not here to discuss my strange proclivities we are here to discuss how to get the biggest bang for our buck and today we are going to explore hot dogs as a viable purchase to stay on budget. I know you can buy hot dogs for a dollar a package. I don’t buy them. Yes a good price but not an option in my book. I use hot dogs in too many different kinds of meals to buy the cheap and often bad tasting dogs.

I don't buy just any dog they have to be top of the line like Hebrew National or White Eagle if for some reason I run out of my Zweigles hot dogs that I buy at  least twice a year in Rochester or Syracuse.

 (It might seem like an extreme thing to do to travel that far for hot dogs but I like to go home and visit once and a while so this is as good excuse as any. )If I do have to buy additional hot dogs then I wait for a  two for one sale at one of the super markets like Price Chopper. 

Waiting for a two for one sale brings down the cost per package to a couple of dollars. There are eight dogs per package. You only need two dogs per meal. That means in one package you have enough for four meal bringing the cost of a dinner down to about sixty five cents . Now that is a great value! 

You cannot beat the dog served  just grilled with some homemade potato salad on the side but I do make other dinners as well. One of the meals  I make is hot dog stew. I have made that for years. It was a recipe in a Diet Workshop recipe book that I have that was published in the 1970s. It has tomato juice hot dogs french style green beans water chestnuts and is flavored with salt pepper and a few drops of Franks Red Hot Sauce. But tonight I am making my favorite hot dog meal.

 I am going to take out my white hot dogs. They are what we call Porkers in Rochester because naturally they are Pork. That was a give away with the nick name right? I will slice up the dogs and cover them with some Country Sweet BBQ sauce and pour the mixture over a hard roll once I have heated the mixture in the microwave. To complete the meal the side dishes will be jello and cottage cheese with onion. (This is a house where you will always find cottage cheese with onions. It’s my favorite comfort food. We won’t go into that one right now. It suffices to say my mom did not really cook when I was growing up.)

I am looking forward to a yummy dinner that will not only taste good but will be a very affordable meal. 
The entire meal will be about a dollar fifty which I realize is pushing the limit of the two dollars a day because it will only leave a total of  fifty cents for both breakfast and lunch today.
I knew I could off set the cost of this dinner by planning ahead.

This morning I had a bowl of cereal and coffee. That was about twenty five cents. The cereal is from the dollar store. I love the Malt-O-Meal I can buy there. One box has about six serving in it which makes for a very inexpensive breakfast that is filling and tastes great.

Lunch was already accounted for a couple days ago. I will have the second half of a can of Progresso soup that I have in the fridge for lunch.

My entire day will cost less than two dollars once again keeping me on budget. 
So to answer the question are hot dogs a budget friendly option?

Yes they are so if you like them then don’t shy away from buying them.

Watch for the sales then add them to your shopping list.  
If you don't like the comments about loving hot dogs then don't tell anyone just  stay in the closet if you need to and I will keep your secret but don't do with out what you enjoy eating.
Remember this is about you and your idea of eating well on a budget  and no one elses.
So enjoy your hot dogs as I know I will!