No hot dog bun? No problem!

The only hot dog buns we ever have, nowadays, are homemade ones. That's not just a cost situation, but commercial hot dog buns often have stuff in them that I can't eat. So, homemade it is.

But I don't always plan ahead and make buns, or my freezer stash of homemade buns has been depleted. So, what to do? What to do?

We have 3 solutions. One, was my mother's favorite. I'm sure this is the universal, substitute hot dog bun. (You remember these, too?!) A slice of soft, fluffy sandwich bread, the fluffier, the better. Something like Wonder Bread. Lay the hot dog on a diagonal, from corner to corner of the slice of bread. Pull the remaining corners up, and you have a wrap-around, slice of bread for a bun. This works just fine, and I often do this for myself, if heating myself a hot dog. But frankly, as a kid, I always felt that this was somehow inferior.

The second solution also works in a pinch, but is better suited for homemade bread, as you need it unsliced. I slice a double wide slice of bread. Cut in half, into two long rectangles. Then make a slit partially through the bread, on the cut edge, about where a cut would have been made to make two slices out of the one.

You have something like a hot dog bun. This works best with fresh and fluffy homemade bread, and not dry homemade bread. The one here was on bread that was a few days old, and didn't hold together very well. Can be a solution, but not my family's favorite.

The third solution is one I use for many types of buns, including sloppy Joe buns and slider burger buns. I use biscuit dough. It's just a basic scratch biscuit dough recipe. If I make half a recipe (a mini batch using 1 cup of flour), I have just enough dough for 5 or 6 hot dogs. (Or, 5 or 6 sloppy Joe buns, or, 10 slider buns.)

I roll the dough out into a large circle, about 1/4-inch thick. I score the circle into 5 or 6 wedges. I lay 1 hot dog on each wedge, nearest the wide edge of the triangle. Then simply roll up, as for a crescent roll. Place seam side down on a baking sheet, and bake the wrapped dogs at 400 F degrees for about 15 to 17 minutes (until the biscuit wrap is baked). If you're using fat sausages, you may want to preheat the sausage in the microwave or in a skillet, first, so that it will be thoroughly cooked through.

One daughter especially loves these. When her sister heard I was making these last Friday for a quick supper, she insisted that I make an extra, for the daughter who loves them so much. (That daughter had an evening out at the opera, with one of her classes, and would miss dinner. The lucky girl!)

Basically, this is a homemade version of the Pillsbury crescent roll, hot dog wraps. But about a buck cheaper. Sometimes, I add a slice of cheese on top of the biscuit dough, just before placing the hot dog on and rolling. Other times, I spread the inside dough with prepared mustard, for extra flavor. As they're not true hot dog buns, with an opening for pouring on the condiments, my family enjoys dipping them in ketchup or BBQ sauce.

That's it! Quick and easy supper for a Friday evening.

Does your family have something favorite for Friday supper?

February Grocery Money Journal

There are just a couple of items that I am keeping a watch for good sales, this month, mayo and oats. We're trying to use up the contents of the freezers and pantry, so I won't go out of my way to buy produce or meat. But if I find a good deal, well . . .

Feb. 3 In-store coupons and sales at Albertson's. Mayonnaise (30 oz. for $2.49, I buy 4), Planter's peanut butter (16.35 oz, I buy 6), chicken hot dogs (78 cents/12 oz, w/ coupon, limit 6), butter (1 lb/$1.99, w/coupon, limit 2). We go through about 5-6 jars of mayo in a year. I may come across a better price, but likely with limits, so I buy 4 jars. That should get us through mid-summer, at least. While hot dogs are not great food, we do like our Saturday night cook-outs around the fire, beginning in spring, so these chicken dogs should get us started. Total spent $27.56

Feb. 6 Stopped by QFC looking for milk. Found 3 gallons of skim milk for $2.09 each, and 4 pints of whipping cream for 59 cents each. I've frozen the whipping cream already, some as cubes to add to soups/sauces, some in pints for making ice cream later, and some whipped and in mounds, to top dessert for Easter dinner. Spent $8.63

Feb. 6 Dollar Tree for soy milk, buy 4 quarts. Spent $4, total for month -- $40.19

Feb. 11 Dollar Tree for spinach seeds, 6 packets @ 25 cents ea, for $1.50 spent

Feb. 11 Albertson's to use coupon on whole milk -- 2 gallons at $2.29 each. Spent $4.58, for a month to date of $46.27

Feb. 12 Trader Joe's for 13 bananas, and 8 oz of cocoa powder. Spent $4.96

Feb. 12 Cash and Carry restaurant supply for 25 lbs of oats ($16.49), case of 12 qts of soy milk ($11.88), 40 oz bag of fresh spinach ($4.38), 40 oz fresh mushrooms ($5.48). Spent 40.41. for a month to date of $91.64

Feb. 20, stop by QFC on way home from work, hoping to find marked down milk. Instead I find red-taped bananas (49 cents/lb) and a marked down 24 oz. bag of broccoli florets for 99 cents (that's 66 cents/lb). Spent $1.71

Feb. 22 Albertson's for eggs on sale for $1.25/dozen, limit 4 w/ coupon. I buy 4. Spent $5

Feb. 23 I go online to see the Walgreen's ad on Sundays. Milk is $1.99/gallon for the week, limit 2. On the way to church I stop in and buy 2, and on the way home I buy another 2. Total spent $7.96

Feb. 25 I have a bunch of errands to run in neighboring town, all along the main highway. There are 2 Walgreen's along my route, one near home and the other, across the street from the post office (one of my errands). So this is how the errands go -- 1) stop at Walgreen's, buy 2 gallons milk, spent $3.98; 2) stop at Trader Joe's for bananas (buy 22 at 19 cents each, spent $4.18); 3) post office to drop something in the mail; 4) across the street to other Walgreen's, buy 2 gallons milk, $3.98; 5) Cash and Carry restaurant supply for 2 lbs of raisins, $4.59; 6) Gas at lowest price station in area; 7) go to first Walgreen's for 2 more gallons of milk, $3.98 total spent on these errands -- $20.71

Month to date spending -- $127.02

Feb. 27 There's a Walgreen's on the way to my Thursday job. I put an ice chest into the trunk of the car, with an ice pack, and stopped in at Walgreen's on the way to work, and then again on the way home from work, buying a total of 4 gallons of milk for $1.99 each (2 whole milk for yogurt, and 2 2% milk for drinking). Spent $7.96.

Once home, I was able to put 6 gallons into the freezer. Once frozen, I can turn them on their sides, and put them in the stand alone freezer, freeing up a bit of space in the larger freezer for another couple of gallons of milk.

If milk prices really do jump up 60 cents per gallon, as reported on the news this month, I should at least put off buying milk for another 2 months, with my frozen milk.

Total spent for the month of February -- 134.98