The Hot Dog Scramble

Hot Dog Scramble Recipe - download and print.

Yesterday I wrote about making menu and food choice changes in our household because of health issues. When you start doing that, it's tough to just prepare dinner using all your old recipes without giving much thought to the food you are using. Now, instead of tossing a bunch of left-overs into a frying pan or pot, I have to think about the carbohydrate values in each bit of left over, carefully measuring or weighing everything to get it right.


That's more time consuming for me and I realized when preparing dinner yesterday, I need to write this stuff down so when I want to make the same (or similar) thing again, I've got it.


Like a cookbook, but I have more than enough of those to wade through, and most of them don't contain the nutritional values (some were my mom's and they were old when she had them). So, like the other family recipes I used, I figured I might just as well add it here (heaven forbid the internet ever goes down, lol).

"Hot Dog Scramble" is a recipe similar to one my mom used to make ... actually, it's a bit of a
combination of two of hers. She used to make a dish for my grandmother that was peppers, eggs, onions and bacon all scrambled up together, with a side dish of asparagus, and she made a dish for us kids that was chopped hot dogs, home fries, onion and tomatoes all fried up together. When I got married I made that hot dog dish for my kids - they loved that.

What I love is the fact that everything gets tossed into the same pan to cook, and, although the resulting dish isn't exactly "pretty" (it's rather messy looking), it tastes delicious.

My newer "Hot Dog Scramble" is a dish made with my husband's health in mind, about mid-range in the calorie level, and low in carbs and has things he likes in it, including an all-beef hot dog that has good nutritional values.

The thing about a "toss-it-all-in" recipe like this is that they are very adaptable to individual tastes. If you want to avoid the extra carbs from potatoes (not included in this recipe, but I added them because I had left-overs) switch to zucchini, egg, plant, or peppers. If you simply don't like hot dogs, switch that out to homemade sausage, or left-over strips of steak, roast beef, or chicken, or even diced ham. I wouldn't suggest fish for this. The flavours aren't likely to work together.

You'll also notice I didn't include any spices in the recipe. I didn't really need to either, but if you want, you can choose to add some of your own - a little basil or bay leaf wouldn't hurt there, but I wouldn't make it too heavily spiced. The flavours in the foods mix together well, and if you like a little punch, chop up one of the hotter peppers and toss it in with the tomatoes and onions when cooking.

Messy but delicious!

Also keep in mind that when you remove or add things to your own taste, you'll need to adjust the carbs for yourself, and the calories if you count those. The per serving carb total is only 7 in my recipe - (that doesn't include the potato I added rather hastily) that's a low number for both men or women diabetics, and  it leaves room for a side-dish, or even a lower carb dessert.  For calorie counters, the calorie count is low enough you can serve a side dish of chef salad (small), or a half cup of veggies, and even jello or fruit for dessert.

So there ya go. A "make-your-own" one-dish dinner that's easily adjusted to suit your own tastes.