Let's Be Frank...

Barbecue season is coming. Now aside from the mental preparation of surviving a family barbecue, I thought it might be nice for us to…contemplate our options with regards to traditional grilling choices.

First up…the hot dog. I looooooove a good hot dog. Especially that one that the cook left on the grill too long so it looks like a fourth degree burn victim? Yep, that’s my dawg!

Did you know you CAN have a hot dog after weight-loss surgery? Honestly, you can. You can even have a chili dog.

These days I go for a regular dog (or polish sausage) and split it with one of the divas (regular hot dogs = animal fat = my pouch doesn’t like more than a few bites). But if you want to watch the content of your dogs, you also have options. Here are a few of my favorites.

Nik’s “Best in Class” Dog Competition

Best beef frank: Hebrew National 97% Fat Free hot dog

That's not how much they cost at my local grocery store, by the way. This is not my image. I am sort of afraid to lurk the grocery store with a camera. To me that says I've taken this whole thing a bit too far...

I liked this dog a lot. The only thing is it is about as skinny as I WANT to be. I like a plump dog. Flavor-wise, this grills up nicely and SMELLS like a hot dog. To me, the pleasure of a hot dog is about 75% in the smell of it. There is just nothing like it. For my non-American readers…if you don’t grill hot dogs you can’t get this one. But trust me…it is heavenly. At any rate, it is 40 calories a dog, 6g protein. Not bad for a hot dog. Not bat atall...

Best "Junk in the Trunk" Beef Dog: Ball Park Fat-Free Franks



Normally I am diametrically opposed to fat free hot dogs. It just seems wrong. Like fat free peanut butter. But these are actually good. These I actually tried specifically FOR this post because I wanted to give an option that wasn't a skinny dog (it's the dog in yesterday's chili dog post). I was pleasantly surprised. The flavor is nice, the skin crusts up nicely when I "put the burn on it" and under all the stuff I put on hot dogs, it held its own. Nice job, Ballpark! At any rate, it is 50 calories, 6g of protein.

Best non-beef frank: Jennie-O Turkey Franks

I got a pack of these at Save-A-Lot and, having gotten them from that particular store, didn’t have very high hopes. (Sorry…I’m on team Aldi!) But I was pleasantly surprised. Jenny-O managed to come up with a pretty good dog on the overall. This, to me, is a good dog to top with stuff. It doesn’t have that strong of a smoky aroma or flavor that you’d get with a beef or pork dog but the seasoning is nice and at 70 calories, you can put other stuff ON it and still come out with a meal of reasonable calories. My suggestion? Some kickin’ hot dog chili and a sprinkle of cheese. I skip the bun but if you feel like you can handle it, I suggest Arnold flat hot-dog buns. It gives you the bun experience without all the extra stuff in the middle.

Best vegetarian dog: Smart Dogs

How in the WORLD does a soy dog manage to beat out a meat one in protein AND calories? I know not, but Smart dogs does it. 45 calories and 8 grams of protein (and it’s fat free)! I’ve had these once and wasn’t told it was a soy dog. I couldn’t really tell (this, arguably, could be because me eating a hot dog is really like me eating toppings with a SIDE of hot dog). It even sort of smells like a hot dog. Mind you, it isn’t the oily, smoky, savory-ness that is a traditional hot dog, but I liked it very much. And my pouch did not hurt from eating a whole one. As with the Jenny-O hot dog…you can pile stuff on this one and be ok calories wise.

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