My kids love to eat hot dogs for lunch. So I’ve been trying to serve them a little different to spice things up a bit.
Ollie the Octopus: I found this fun hot dog idea from Easy Recipes for Kids. I cooked the hot dog first. Then cut 8 octopus legs, but left a large section at the top for the head. Even a fun mustard smiley face was drawn on. Then we named the octopus Ollie before he got gobbled up.
Wiggly Worms: When I did the post about the How to Eat Fried Worms, I had a comment from Abra Leah to make hot dog worms. So of course we had to try it. She says to cut up the hot dog strips, toss them in boiling water for a few minutes, and then drain the water. Now you’ve got worms for lunch.
Hot Dogs on a Stick: We used the same lollipop sticks from our Grape Pops. These were easy to dip and fun for them to eat.
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I think my kiddos would love the octopus and worms!!
We like to slice the hotdog and fill it with a square of Am cheese, sliced, and then wrap it in a pill.sbury crescent roll – yum!!!
So fun!
and then of course bake it
LOL – didn’t want to leave that out! :D
I just blogged about hot dogs except in a totally different way. We have a frig full and a child who got sick yesterday on them. I’ll freeze and save for later, those are the cutest dang hot dogs ever, love the worms! How to eat fried worms was a childhood fav.
Take a look at this octodog experiment:
http://lunchinabox.net/2008/02/22/how-to-make-an-octodog-octopus-hot-dog/
I used to make these “chicken legs” for my son. A hot dog halved crossways…push onto a large pretzel stick. Wrap the dog in pillsbury cornbread sticks (from the refrigerated section…or you could use the breadsticks). Roll the bread in crushed cornflakes and bake (I think I might have brushed with egg wash first). It looks like a fried chicken leg. :)
If you cut the octodog before cooking, you can see the little tentacles curl up in the microwave or boiling water. My kids love that part.
Love these ideas! Maybe my kids might actually eat their lunch :)
I like Christy’s idea of cooking it after to watch their tentacles curl.
We make hot dog people. If you cut them in half about half way down the dog then cut on the top half of the dog two small slices on either side. When you stick the hotdog in the microwave the dog will spread out and look just like a person with legs and arms!
Taste of Home had a little blurb about octopus dogs a few years back, and they served the octopus on a “sea” of ramen noodles dyed green.
Oh ya, watching the legs curl would be much more fun. Check the link from Devo K. It almost makes them look too real! And I love that see of noodles.
What fun ideas!! I’ll be trying these out with my 2-year old. She’ll get a kick out of it!
he he :) now that is just to cute, my daughter is going to love this!
Another idea is to make a hot dog boat. Slice it down the middle and fill the middle up with mashed potatoes and top with cheese! Lot’s of cute idea’s!! Thanks as alawys for sharing.
this is so funny! a friend of mine makes hot dog men: slices legs arms and hair.
How cute is that!!? We had hot dogs for lunch & they weren’t cute like that at all. But there’s some left – so I’ll have to try that. So fun!
My girls are going to love you next week!
There is a restaurant in Orem called Max & Cheese that does these! They cater to kids, very cool.
My idea is too simple, but was effective enough to trick my 2 year old into eating hot dogs! :) I made a “circle” lunch; everything was cut into circles. Hot dogs, string cheese, and bananas. He ate it all! I guess everything is cooler when it’s a shape.
More great ideas. I love the boat. And making lunch in a theme like “circles” is a fantastic idea.
Thanks for sharing everyone.
We love hot dogs at are house, but since we are kind of snobby about it, carve the meat into little bricks using swivel Xacto knives and then stack them into the shape of our favorite cathedrals in Europe.
The only problem is this – half the family appreciates high gothic, while the other is more apt to build in the traditions of rococo architects. Oh well. Thanks for the great ideas. it’s kind of a 14th century meets 17th century.
Hot dogs are a basic at our house. But fun is fun too. Great ideas for the kiddies.
What fun! Have you heard of the Octodog Frankfurter Converter (http://www.octodog.net/)? It’s a running joke in our house :)
What super fun ideas! Do you think this is too young for a 10 year old? I may have to try it!
Great ideas Marie!! My kids are going to love this. I’ll tell Noah that cousin Matty eats these too. that’s one thing Noah can eat plenty of – Hebrew National Hot Dogs
Glad they had fun! :) We always have fun with all of your ideas. :)
There is more reason to comment than ever before!
When I was little my dad used to make hot dog men. Long ways, slice the bottom third of the dog once to make two legs and then about 1/3 from the top slice on each side of the dog to make two arms and when you cook them the legs and arms curl out a bit and make a man.
I have bookmarked this informativ site. Thanks Kfz Versicherung
We hosted a family Mac and Cheese and Hot Dog dinner at the Learning Center where I work. We made these little guys and then decorated in an under the sea scene. We even had the bigger kids help with hot dogs using plastic bitter knives. A great time was had by all!