Chili Dogs – A Good Cheap Eat

When you first hear the words chili dogs, nutritious and delicious are probably not the accompanying images, are they? But, last night I healthified them a bit and I think we’re good to go.

I filled Homemade Hot Dog Buns, made with whole wheat flour, with kosher hot dogs and homemade chili. The chili was, in fact, an easy throw together affair since the beans and the ground beef were already cooked and seasoned as part of my freezer meal components from earlier in the month. Accompanied by fresh veggies and homemade ranch dip, I think it scored pretty high on the good factor.

As for the frugal element, the hot dogs were completely free. I used a free product coupon when hot dogs were already “buy one, get one free”. That meant that both packages were free. The hot dog buns cost about $.75, the chili ingredients ran up to $1.26, cheese was $.25, and the veggies and dip put us back about $1. Grand total to feed 8 people? $3.26 I realize that free hot dogs are not the norm. But, on sale, I might have bought them for $5, which would still make our dinner about $8.26 to feed 8 people. That’s one good cheap eat.

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