Corn Dog Muffins

The Duggars may be known for their "tater tot casserol" (which may I say is pretty good, you can find their recipe here).  But our family is known for it's creative spins on things, like corn dog muffins! 

A few years (or once upon a time, how ever you would like to start) we ran out of corn dogs. Upon arriving at the store to purchase more, I took a good look at the price.  I refuse to spend money on things we don't "need", and on that day, I didn't feel that we "needed" to spend what basically broke down to over $1 per corn dog.  But upon arriving home I found out that my kids had a much different opinion of what we need. I was beginning to have a feeling like they were going to go on strike if I didn't figure out something, thus, "corn dog muffins" were born.

First, mix up some of your favorite corn bread or corn muffin batter, I found a old recipe for some honey corn muffins which were very yummy!.  

Then cut up some hot dogs small enough to fit in each muffin tin.  For the pictures I used my regular sized muffin pans, normally I use mini muffin pans which makes them bite sized (but, they were dirty this day).  And for smaller kids I have sliced up the hotdog into non choking sized pieces and mixed them into the batter.

 

Next, Fill each muffin cup with some batter and set a hot dog in each one. 

(I recommend using paper cupcake liners, but I ran out of those 2 batches ago and I keep forgetting to buy more, but spraying each cup works well too)

 

  Finally bake according to the corn muffin directions, it may take a few extra minutes, just keep a eye on them and when they are golden brown they are done!

The batter rises over the hotdogs while baking hiding the hotdogs inside.  The first time I made these I called them "surprise muffins", the kids were very surprised to find hot dogs on the inside and forgave me for not buying corn dogs.

These are not that hard to make and cheaper than packaged frozen corn dogs (and I would think that being baked and not deep fried, maybe they are a little healthier? especially if you use turkey hot dogs).  

Also, if you like the convenience of frozen corn dogs, these freeze well, I just throw them in a baggie and freeze.  When you want a corn dog muffin, just grab one and throw it in the microwave for a little bit and enjoy!

Hunter in training

Andrew's new Camo snowsuit arrived the other day and he was so cute I thought, "I must take a picture and show it off".... When was the last time you tried to take a picture of a overly active 7 month old????

Wait!

 hold still please, lol

Yes, I'm talking to you....

Um......

Almost...

gone again!

Jealous brother "smiling" for a picture, notice the little camo blob still rolling around in the background? lol

Yes, he is cute

GOT IT!!!!

Interpretation

Toddlers are great at showing you just how what you say can be interpreted into something completely different.  Ty is especially good at this and he proved yesterday.


Poor Ty is constantly being kicked out of his room by Ricky.  Ricky simply picks him up and carries him out of the room to the end of the hall instructing Ty to stay out of the room and not to touch his lego's (touching Ricky's lego's results in a huge Ricky meltdown).  Rick (being a loving and encouraging father) simply told Ty to "grow some balls and stand up to your brother"..... Ty in his little Ty voice, cocked his head to the side and said "balls???" and with a sudden sense of urgency, Ty started running around the house and up to everyone saying "balls????", finally running from the library with, what else, 2 balls, and a great sense of pride on his face.  He had found his "balls".

New House!!!

We now live with boxes, but we are moved into our new house.

Yes, this picture was taken before my kids lovingly decorated the front yard, drive, and front porch with bikes and toys.  If you look close you will see the garage lights on, and yes they are ALWAYS on, not sure why, but at least we finally found the light switch (now if we could only remember to use it).

We now have almost 3 acres that includes a koi pond and a go-cart track through the woods in our back yard.  The kids love feeding the koi and can spend hours speeding around the back yard on the go-cart.  I'm in the process of planning a huge garden in the back yard, I can't wait for spring! and Rick is loving the hunting, we have had several deer visit our front yard.

Some Days

Some days, you don't want to wake up in the morning after you have been up all night feeding the baby.

Some days, it feels like all you do is clean up messes and break up fights.

Some days, you have so much to do that you just don't know how or if you will get it all done.

And some days.....

You just want time to stand still.

Dishes with Ty

I think loading a dishwasher with a one year old little boy at foot should be considered a aerobic exercise, possibly even a Olympic sport.  Why? Well,  let me explain exactly how to load a dishwasher with a one year old "Ty" near by......

Open the dishwasher turn to grab first dish, hear a little giggle behind you, turn and see a cute Ty smile and reopen the dishwasher.  Proceed to place spoon in dishwasher, grab fork from sink and place in dishwasher while grabbing spoon from Ty, while noticing that cute Ty giggle smile, put spoon back in dishwasher.  Grab plate from sink, place plate in sink while simultaneously grabbing fork and spoon from Ty and placing back in dishwasher.  Turn to grab another plate, hear a crash and giggle as Ty slams the dishwasher shut, turn to notice Ty's cute giggle smile while pointing at the dishwasher. Deep breath, open dishwasher, quickly grab dish from sink, put dish in sink while grabbing spoon from Ty, put spoon back in dishwasher, grab Ty's hands (notice giggle smile again) place foot on dishwasher door to hold it open, and grab another dish from sink and put it in the dishwasher as fast as you can.... all at once, multitasking at it's finest! 
Pick up Ty, explain to him in one year old terms to play with the toy you gave him before all this started so mommy can load the dishwasher.  If anyone has ever had a successful conversation like this with a one year old I would love to hear about it, lol.
Back to dishes, distract Ty with the toy, grab pan and place in dishwasher, grab cup, hear the clanging sound of metal on metal, look down and see that pan and spoon has become drum set.  Another cute ty smile giggle noticed.. grab pan and spoon, grab ty, hold door with foot, mutate another arm to grab dishes from sink... ok, that didn't work.... make eye contact with ty....  notice the "evil giggle"....  this means war!
Notice ball on floor, show ball to Ty,  throw ball (yes fetch is not just for dogs), grab as many dishes as you can, throw them in the dishwasher and slam the door shut and turn on dishwasher, turn and celebrate victory as Ty is running at you with the ball and that evil giggle smile.  At this point mom thinks she won, but what that Ty giggle is really saying is he had the last laugh because mom never put the soap in.  Ty-1, Mama-0!