Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Homemade Pigs in a Blanket - Freezer Lunch Idea



I don't know about you, but I'm always lacking lunch inspiration!  I don't have much time in the mornings since we have to be on the road by around 7AM each morning so even if I normally would have inspiration, probably I'm not having it at 6:30 AM.

I was browsing around blogs the other day looking for supper inspiration when I ran across a mom who makes her own pigs in a blanket.  We make pigs in a blanket at our house too but we use canned biscuits.  I just couldn't imagine the combination of homemade bread and hot dog.  

Let me be the first to tell you that these are the best, most delicious things you could ever put in your mouth!  No more, will I wonder what to take for lunch!  

These are pretty easy to make (I used my bread machine for the dough), and I simply let them cool and placed them all in a gallon bag in the freezer.  My morning lunch prep involved opening the freezer, getting one out, and sticking it in my lunch container.  At work, I simply warmed it in the microwave for about 15 seconds and ate it with some healthy dips of mustard.  YUM!!

Here's how I made Homemade Pigs in a Blanket AT HOME MY WAY:


Homemade Pigs in a Blanket
(with yeast dough)

  • One recipe of your favorite yeast dough equal to one loaf of bread - I used my Homemade Sandwich Bread dough recipe, which I made in my bread machine.  The recipe for that can be found HERE.
  • One package of hotdogs (10)
  • *Optional:  You could slice the hotdog lengthwise and insert a slice of cheese before wrapping in the dough if you like cheese dogs!
  • *Optional:  You could also cut the hotdogs into halves/thirds, use smaller dough balls, and make mini pigs in a blanket.

Instructions:

Prepare the dough as you would for one loaf of bread, using the dough setting on your bread machine.  If you are making dough without a bread machine, the dough will be ready for this next step after the first rise.

Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray or lightly grease.

Dump dough on the cookie sheet and sprinkle with a little flour so you can handle it. (I don't like dirtying any more dishes or counterspace than I need to, so I just place the dough on the cookie sheet.)



Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces.



Make ropes from each ball - about 9-10 inches long.

Starting at the end of an uncooked hotdog, twist the dough around like the stripes on a candy cane, with the dough spirals touching each other.

Place the wrapped dogs on the cookie sheet with space between them for a little rising.



Preheat oven to 350°.

Place the pan with the wrapped dogs in a place to rise that isn't drafty/cool.  It was warm in my kitchen so the rise time only took about 15 minutes while my oven was preheating, but if it's winter and your kitchen is cooler, this could take a little longer.

Once risen and a little puffy, bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool and eat, or store in ziploc, gallon baggy in the freezer.  To rewarm, heat in microwave 15 seconds or so.  Also could be reheated in a toaster oven or regular oven.


Enjoy!


Gina