On occasion, I enjoy a hot dog, on the 4th of July or nestled in a layer of doughy deliciousness. However, I have been on this new kick recently where I try to eat less meat, thereby decreasing my evironmental impact. I have debated buying these smart dogs before, mainly because they are significantly more expensive then regular dogs (probably because soy costs more to make than animal by-products). I was also hesitant to purchase them because I could not be sure if they were tasty or not, and since I hate wasting food, I would have felt so guilty I would have had to eat all of them regardless. But this week, Smart Dogs were on sale so I decided (with some help from my roommate Katherine) to take a chance and buy them.
The packaging said to boil them, but I disregarded that suggestion because every true hot dog lover knows real hot dogs are grilled. I grilled the Smart Dog, and my bun, covered it in dill relish and ketchup, the way I eat all hot dogs and took my first vegetarian step. ..
I found the dogs to be flavorful and have an identical texture to authentic hot dogs, which qualify them to be an excellent alternative to eating unhealthy, heart-clogging hot dogs. Another advantage to eating these instead of real hot dogs is the lack of fat content, 0 grams. No fat, trans fat, saturated fat, and only 45 calories a dog versus the 300 calorie, 10 grams of saturated fat in a real hot dog. And what for, meat that has been processed, shredded and squeezed out ? I think I will stick to my Smart Dogs and not purchase a real hot dog again. Because they do have a different taste, I think I will try to use a different recipe to incorporate these 45 calorie, meatless dogs into another meal. Maybe a pig-in-the-blanket type recipe...
When I was little, my mom and I would make this version of pig-in-a-blankets using hot dogs. We would take the dogs, make a slit down the middle horizontally and fill it with cheese. Then we would take Pillsbury cresent roll dough and roll the hot dog up into the cresent and bake it in the oven. Once we pulled out those rolls you could smell the wonderful aroma of our homemade (almost) pig-in-a-blankets, and you just new they were going to be delectable. This is to be my next experiment with the dogs, I will report back soon..
The packaging said to boil them, but I disregarded that suggestion because every true hot dog lover knows real hot dogs are grilled. I grilled the Smart Dog, and my bun, covered it in dill relish and ketchup, the way I eat all hot dogs and took my first vegetarian step. ..
I found the dogs to be flavorful and have an identical texture to authentic hot dogs, which qualify them to be an excellent alternative to eating unhealthy, heart-clogging hot dogs. Another advantage to eating these instead of real hot dogs is the lack of fat content, 0 grams. No fat, trans fat, saturated fat, and only 45 calories a dog versus the 300 calorie, 10 grams of saturated fat in a real hot dog. And what for, meat that has been processed, shredded and squeezed out ? I think I will stick to my Smart Dogs and not purchase a real hot dog again. Because they do have a different taste, I think I will try to use a different recipe to incorporate these 45 calorie, meatless dogs into another meal. Maybe a pig-in-the-blanket type recipe...
When I was little, my mom and I would make this version of pig-in-a-blankets using hot dogs. We would take the dogs, make a slit down the middle horizontally and fill it with cheese. Then we would take Pillsbury cresent roll dough and roll the hot dog up into the cresent and bake it in the oven. Once we pulled out those rolls you could smell the wonderful aroma of our homemade (almost) pig-in-a-blankets, and you just new they were going to be delectable. This is to be my next experiment with the dogs, I will report back soon..
