Child-friendly Homegrown Corn Dogs

Okay, the hot dogs weren't actually homegrown, but the cornmeal in them sure was!  My mom came over last week with her Vitamix and ground some of my green dent corn, that super tall corn that caused such a stir a while back, for corn meal.  So I took some of that great, super healthy organically grown corn...and fried it.  I mixed it into a batter, dipped quartered hot dogs into it and fried it into homemade, partially homegrown (nitrate free, turkey) corn dogs!  My husband took one bite and declared them to taste like corn dogs, so they were officially a success!  Even though they just "taste like corn dogs", these were a lot healthier than anything I've seen sold in a store since, like I mentioned, they contained organic ingredients, better quality wieners, and I even slipped in a little extra whole grains with no one being any the wiser.  Yes, they are still fried, so I'm not going to say they are healthy but it is a definite improvement.  Plus, they are a lot cheaper than the ones my husband would occasionally buy at the store, which are about $8 for a box of 16.  I got the hot dogs on sale for less than $2 a package of 8, and the cost of the other ingredients are fairly minimal, so they are almost half the cost! 

Unfortunately, my sloppy breading technique did not make for cute corn dogs, but here is a couple cute kids with mouthfuls of them!  As you can see, I balanced the fried corn dogs (and purple french fries) with raw, fresh vegetables, cucumbers and tomatoes to be exact, from the garden.

Another plus on my corn dogs was that I quartered the hot dogs lengthwise for the safety of the children.  I'm sure you are aware that small children are at enough of a choking risk from hot dogs that many think there should be a warning label on the package.  If you buy premade corn dogs, you can quarter the whole thing after it is cooked, but what fun is that for the kids?  I cut mine before breading them, so each one was safer, but still breaded on all sides!

Corn Dogs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup corn meal

4 tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

hot dogs

oil for frying

Combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Stir in eggs and milk and mix until lump free.  Quarter hot dogs lengthwise, if desired.  Dip hot dogs into batter to coat.  Deep fry in hot oil until light brown.