A Big Kid Meal: Franks and Rice

I'm sure you're familiar with Beanie Weenies; a combo of BBQ beans and hot dogs mixed together to create the ultimate kids anytime meal. Well, folks, I have a new one for you to try that's for Big Kids, like you and me. OK, and the kiddos too.

Franks and Rice

Simple, delicious, gluten free, and easy. What more could you want?

Start with finding yourself some jasmine rice. I used Lundberg Jasmine rice for mine and it was perfection.

Before we launch into the next part, let's talk about hot dogs for a second. These dogs, aside from the four-legged friends we all know and love, are widely regarded as an American staple in life, something shared at BBQ's and baseball games with our nearest and dearest. However, hot dogs have a pretty bad rap for some pretty good reasons. For example, they're one of many processed foods that contain nitrates, a chemical linked to cancer in some studies, which are also shown to cause headaches and migraines in certain people. Hot dogs as a whole aren't the healthiest of foods, but you can enjoy these every now and then by using brands that process their meats better, such as Applegate, the one and only hot dog I use. They're grass fed, gluten free, and the healthiest option when it comes to this particular food.

Okay, my PSA is over. On to the recipe!

To make this, you can use two cups of rice and an entire package of hot dogs or cut that in half. Totally up to you depending on how much food you want to make.

1. Follow the instructions for the rice of your choice and begin cooking it. If you use the brand I do, above, it says to add butter, but instead I add olive oil and it truly make a mouth watering difference.

This particular brand of rice will require 10 mins to "fluff." Most rice requires this amount of time, so right before this step I begin cooking the hot dogs.

2. Grab a pan and put some water in it. Let the water begin to steam off before adding the hot dogs. Place the hot dogs in and let them get plump and juicy.

3. Once the rice is fluffed, sprinkle some sea salt, rosemary, and herb salt on it. Mix these together well.

Note: The herb salt piece of this may be tricky, as no two herb salts are created equal. The herb salt I used is actually from my recent vacation to Salzburg, Austria and it's pretty darn amazing, but I haven't been able to find a way to order it online so you could have the option of using it too. You can find similar salts online, but if you don't want to go that route you can just add in some additional herbs, like basil and thyme, to give it a similar flavor. I did this too and it was still awesome.

4. Chop the hot dogs up and add them to the rice. Stir everything together and enjoy this yummy Big and Little Kid meal!