Chili Cheese Dogs in Beach Blankets

Any recipe that is considered as "classy as a cheeseburger casserole" absolutely HAS to be delicious. And thoroughly artery-clogging.

Rachael Ray's Chili Cheese Dogs in Beach Blankets (thanks, Brooke!) was both.

They were pretty fun, as long as I pretended that serving them with this Tomato and Veggie Casserole made them healthy. Ryan loved it, and Pat ate THREE of them (and then wondered why his stomach hurt later...). I would totally make this again.

And I'm sorry for the pictures. There was no way I could make them look less phallic. I tried...

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 3/4 pound ground beef or turkey
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 2 teaspoons dehydrated onion
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tube pizza dough, from the dairy aisle at the grocery store
• 8 beef, turkey, pork or tofu dogs
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Pre-heat oven to 400°F.

In a small pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the meat to the pot and brown it up, 6-7 minutes. Season the meat up with chili powder, granulated garlic, dehydrated onion and a little salt and pepper.

Add the tomato paste to the pot and stir it around a minute, then add the water to help loosen the tomato paste up and get it everywhere. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for five minutes, then turn the heat off.

Roll the pizza dough out into a big rectangle. Cut the dough in half lengthwise with a small knife. Cut the dough into four equal pieces across so that you end up with eight small, rectangular pieces of dough. Across the center of each rectangle, place a couple of spoonfuls of chili sauce and a small handful of cheese sprinkled on top. Set the dog on the dough and wrap and roll the pizza dough around the dog like a blanket, sealing in the chili and cheese too! The nubs of each end of the dog should be peeking out.

Bake in the oven 18 minutes, until golden.