Chili Dogs

My husband almost cried. Literally, came over and gave me a huge hug, told me how amazing dinner was, and started pacing. He then told me (1) he made a good wife choice and (2) I was a cooking master today. (Full disclosure: I made some of these for brunch.)

I ran across this chili dog recipe on In the Wabe, after some late night pinning on Pinterest. (Just as an FYI, weird stuff gets pinned late at night on Pinterest.) Anyway, there's a semi-secret ingredient hidden inside these things: mayo. You have to put some on the inside of the bun and something delicious happens while these things bake. Also, the oven makes the cheese all melty and the buns super crispy. Its an awesome combo.

Since they are chili dogs made by you, they are easy to make relatively healthy. You can use the whole wheat buns, turkey dogs, healthy chili, small amounts of cheese, and low fat mayo. I didn't do really any of those things (except the chili, and reduced fat Hebrew Nationals), but you can :)

Last thing...I used some left-over chili I made a few nights ago, which you can find here. I'm tellin' you----use the homemade stuff. It makes these things so much better.

Amazing Chili Dogs

as adapted from "Oven Hot Dogs" from In the Wabe

8 hotdogs
8 hot dog buns
chili (made my own, recipe here)
shredded cheese (I had less than 1/8 c. available in the fridge. Use as much or little as you like!)
chopped onion
mayonnaise
yellow mustard

Break out a 9x13 pan. Line with aluminum foil. You either need to spray some non-stick spray on the foil, or do what I do. Use this. It is seriously the most amazing thing ever.

Preheat oven to 350.

While oven is preheating, take each hotdog bun, open it up, and add mayo to each side of the insides of the buns. (Does that makes sense? That sounds confusing. But I know you understand.) Place a hotdog in each bun, lining the 9x13. You can usually get 6 along the botton and two across the top. We used reduced fat Hebrew National hotdogs, which are amazing, btw, but they come in packs of 7. Weird.

Once all the hotdogs are lined up, add a line of mustard to the top of each hotdog. Then top each with a generous amount of chili! Add some cheese to each, and sprinkle the tops with chopped onion.

Here is our odd 7 hotdogs. See the space for the eighth? Weird. But notice how packed in the 6 along the bottom are. Be sure to do this, it keeps the shape of the buns.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.

*Recipe linked up at The Sweet Detail