Easy Cheesy Buffalo HOT dogs

Fast, Easy, and Flavorful were my culinary criteria for dinner yesterday. I was fiercely committed to spending minimal time in the kitchen and pretty much doing as little as possible around my house. Nice goals aye' lol!?! I think we all need relaxing lazy days here and there or we're destined to get burnt out. All work and no play is just no good. I'm not trying to encourage mass laziness by any means, but I do encourage a healthy balance of fun and grind. All work or All play is just unhealthy; we must find/commit to that balance just like with all the other areas of this crazy life. So um yeah, yesterday was my self designated adult play day that was to involve as little work as possible! Which included not fussing over food, just keeping it simple and satisfying. It's not that I don't love cooking up crazy concoctions, because I truly do enjoy it! I find cooking to be a great creative outlet and I GENUINELY... love the pure artistry of making a delicious one-of-a-kind meal and playing with food responsibly (plus, we gotta eat yo's lol)! Like I said though, I needed a nice lazy, low key kinda day to get rebalanced, embrace my inner bum, and just unwind. Does it get any easier or cheaper than prepackaged hot dogs in life (for real though lol)?!? Not much, that's for sure!  However, I wasn't just gonna throw some blah dog in a bun and call it a day, not that I wouldn't go ham on a plain dawg, I just figured since I WAS ONLY making hot dogs for dinner, no sides, no NADA, I'd spunk them up a tad to make it seem more like a gourmet dog while maintaining the minimal fuss philosophy. Thee ol' man said "this might be the best hot dog I've ever had," #mindblown lol! So even with minimal work and effort, my dawg was still able to pack mass flavor and possibly change my dude's life, TOTAL SCORE ;)

Whatcha' need: 

• 1 pack hot dogs (I used all beef, but any dog would do)
• 3-4 TBS of Hot Sauce
• 2/3-1cup Ketchup
• Bottled Ranch Dressing (or Blue Cheese, we're not blue cheese folks around here, but use whatever cool, creamy dressing you prefer)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 tsp each of oregano, garlic pepper and lemon pepper
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• Hot Dog Buns 

Optional, but highly recommended~ 1/4 cup diced Red Onion and Jarred Jalapeno Slices for garnish

Place the hot dogs and water in a large skillet and sprinkle them with half of the above suggested dry seasonings (approx). Cook over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes or until the dogs swell and all the water has evaporated.

Once the water has vanished, lower the heat slightly and allow the hot dogs to brown up and get crisp on the outside to your desired liking. We prefer them a little darker like they just came off a grill, so I let them brown for about 5-10 minutes, frequently rolling/flipping them about to avoid excessive charring, but still giving them enough space to do their charring thang ;)

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the hot sauce, ketchup, and the remaining dry seasonings (easy huh!)

Once the dawgs have the texture and color you like, turn the heat down a tad and smother them in the hot sauce mixture. Try to show all of them equal love and spread them around in the sauce. Rolling and turning them for about 5 more minutes until the sauce is mostly absorbed and they all look well coated.

Then turn off the heat, sprinkle them with the shredded cheddar, and cover those beauts with a lid or plate for about 5 minutes. Just so the cheese can get nice and gooey, and proceed to yumville!

Meanwhile, grab your buns...ranch dressing, and dice up the onion and pepper. Now we construct thee Cheesy Buffalo Dog

Place the gooey cheesy hot dog in the bun, drizzle it with ranch dressing, and sprinkle it with onions and peppers. WHAM BAM! We just made an easy, but fanciful Cheesy Buffalo HOT dog and only dirtied a few dishes! ~ Insert Happy Dances~ This dawg would go great with some mac n' cheese, a baked potato, simple salad or is satisfying enough Ala solo.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did, cuz' it's pretty doggone good ;) Thanks for Popping In and Big Hugs!