Snack attack time! School is out, it’s Summer time and the kids are hungry but don’t fret parents, Chili-Cheese Dogs to the rescue.   Of course you can always heat up a corn dog but a chili dog with cheese in a blanket is way better!  What I love about this recipe is that the kiddos can help you make them.  By doubling the recipe, you can be sure that you are making enough for everyone or even for a picnic!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3/4 pound of ground beef
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons onion salt and ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 (13.8oz) tube refrigerator pizza dough
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 8 hot dog wieners

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400′

1. Heat the oil in small pot over medium high heat.  Add the meat and brown.  Season meat with chili powder, garlic, onion and salt & pepper.  Add the tomato paste and stir; then addd 1/4 cup water to help loosen the tomato paste.  Simmer for 5 minutes and turn off heat.
2. Roll out the pizza dough into a big rectangle.  Cut the dough in half lengthwise with a small knife.  Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces across so that you end up with 8 small rectangular pieces of dough.  Across the center of each rectangle, place a couple of spoonfuls of chili sauce and sprinkle a small handful of cheese on top.  Set the dog on the dough and wrap and roll the pizza dough around teh dog as you would for pigs in a blanket, sealing in the chili and cheese.  The nubs of each end of the dog should be peeking out.  Arrange on a baking sheet and bake for 18 minutes or until brown.

LITTLE HELPERS

The little helpers can measure ingredients, shred the cheese, and roll the dogs in blankets.

In my goal to be fit, not only am I working out to the Your Shape Wii Game, I’m also eating things healthier when I can.  Trying to find healthy substitutions to replace the easy accessible junk food can prove to be difficult at times.  I realized that trying to find prepackaged healthy food was the real problem. I needed to discover ways to create healthy snacks “from scratch”.  So instead of buying granola bar type snacks, I decided to make my own version. Since granola seems to be an ingredients that’s hard to come by around here, I chose to use oatmeal as a substitute but you could use granola (and I recommend you do) to make this recipe.

In my quest to lose weight this year, I’m on the prowl for TASTY GOOD snacks that I can indulge in–Snacks that are going to soothe the craving.  I’ve tried another brand (WW) that were so horrible that even my kids wouldn’t eat them and they eat everything!  But these Little Debbie Snacks?  These are sooooo good.  You would have no clue that they are only 100 calories.  Not to mention they are cheaper than that other brand.  AND, there is currently a coupon for .55cents off!!!  Feast your eyes on these goodies…..

These are only 5 of the 8 that I tried out.  The other ones didn’t even last one day because of the boys aka hogs.

These are not large portions but they are not meant to be….the whole point of them being 100 calories is to provide a healthier alternative in a portion control size.   Yes fruit is healthier but sometimes you just need to indulge in something like this so that you don’t fall off the diet wagon, you know?

Anyways, Little Debbie snacks have been around for years so I found it to be a breath of fresh air to bring in a lighter version of their snacks. OH, and if you don’t give a rat’s butt for lower calories, then check out this Strawberry Shortcake Roll recipe!!!  It includes one of my most favorite debbie snacks ever.

So guess what?  You can WIN IT!

Oh yeah!  3 winners will get this HUGE box of 100 calorie Little Debbie Snacks.  The same box that I received in fact.  And my favorite part about their box?  It has their twitter handle on it!!  So cool that they are also trying to stay in the cutting edge of social media.

This is what you will get…..

Which ones did I fall in love with?  The Snow Puffs were my absolute faves.  Then the rest are all tied…seriously.  They are THAT good.

HOW TO ENTER:

Go check out the Little Debbie Website and tell me which one is your favorite snack! It doesn’t have to be a 100 calorie one either…..Come back here to this post and leave a comment.

Additional ways to enter include & should be done in a separate comment:

• Twittering this

100 calorie @LittleDebbie snacks giveaway over at @acowboyswife ‘s food blog! http://tinyurl.com/9tgbc3

• Blog it
• Stumble it

This giveaway ends on January 16th.  Rules