Being A Kid Again - Mac and Cheese and Hot Dogs

Before I begin this post, I am excited to announce that I was featured in a blog created by my friend Stacy.  I have known Stacy for quite a few years now and she is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.  We were in the Air Force together, a few years back, and the last time I saw her she was the mother of one little baby boy.  Now she is the proud parent of three beautiful children.  Stacy is the author of Kids Stuff World and writes about being a mother, taking care of the home and life in general.  Read about her adventures here and the really nice blog post about me here. 

Sometimes Matt and I do things that remind us of being young again...  Riding our bikes to the ice cream shop, bringing our mattress into the living room (I used to love sleeping in the living room as a kid) and eating mac and cheese and octopus-shaped bbq hot dogs for dinner.

The mac and cheese is homemade with bechamel, sauteed onions, cheddar and a little gorgonzola (recipe and method coming soon) and I usually get the Hebrew National All Beef Franks when they are BOGO at Publix.  Hebrew National hot dogs contain no by-products, artificial flavors or colors and are really tasty, in my opinion.

It is common, in Japan, to put octopus-shaped hot dogs in children's lunch boxes.  They call it taco weinna- which means octopus wiener.  And by wiener, I mean hot dog.  I think they're really cute and something that children will enjoy.

To make taco weinna-

• First cut the hot dogs into thirds.
• Cut a cross into one end of the hot dog pieces, the cuts should go up 1/3 of the way (Fancy graphic below).
• Heat frying pan on medium-high heat with a little oil.  Add hot dogs. 
• Add a little water to steam the wieners and the legs should start to curl out.
• When all the water has evaporated and the hot dogs are heated through, add BBQ sauce. Serve.