in defense of hot dogs

Confession: I love hot dogs.  If you stumbled on this blog thinking you’re going to get posts on 10 ways to be creative with kohlrabi, I’m sorry to disappoint.  We eat hot dogs ‘round here.  We also eat veggies, lots of them, but in the summer I don’t know much better than a perfectly grilled hot dog. 

Fortunately, I recently stumbled on Applegate Farms brand of hot dogs. 

Photo credit: Applegate Farms

They’re organic, they’re nitrate/nitrite free, they’re naturally low fat (just 90 calories & 6 fat grams each) and best of all (to me), the company is based in New Jersey.  This girl was born down the Shore, and proud of it.

Don’t worry – Nashville is my home sweet home, and I love to support local products.  In fact, we enjoyed these hot dogs for a recent weeknight dinner, and topped them with Mista Dale’s spicy mustard slaw.  Developed in a home kitchen by a man who loves food, the slaw is tangy, crunchy and just a little spicy.  It’s a nice change from the typical relish or kraut, and it’s healthy since there’s mustard instead of mayo to bind it. 

So there you have it.  I love hot dogs…and perhaps the most important reason?  They’re a super quick meal.  Serve them with some fresh fruit, and within 30 minutes you can be finished with dinner and doing what you love.

We did just that this week and we all scarfed one down (yes, we scarf in our family), leaving plenty of time for this:

It’s an organic process, and eating the things I love doesn’t have to mean eating over-processed. 

PS – Applegate Farms didn’t sponsor/promote/bribe me in any way to write this.  I just really love the product.  They don’t even have any idea I wrote this, though if they stumble upon it and want to send me some coupons, I won’t complain.