I don't often share recipes here because well, you can see for yourself. But I posted something about this on the FacePlace the other day and I had a couple of people email to ask about it. So I figure that makes it a blogworthy post. Shut up. It does.

Spaghetti Dog Octopi

If there's a more ridiculous food option, I haven't found it yet, but my kids love this dish with a love that dare not speak it's name (and I'm hoping it stays that way because if they tell the CPS officers that will inevitably come to my house one day that this is what I feed them, it may reflect badly on me). I found this somewhere on the interweb a couple of years ago and, as all my recipes go, it was a good way to use up ingredients in the fridge that either a) have been there so long I can't remember what year I bought them or b) will go bad if I don't do something with them quickly. This one does both things so how can you go wrong? Plus you can con your kids into preparing it for you.

Ingredients: Hot dogs, spaghetti, ketchup (ah, how I love an ingredient list that's short and sweet)

You'll see in the following pictures that I actually cheated and used fettuccine but the point of the Wonderland Cooking classes is not to Follow The Recipe, or even Have An Eatable Dish at the end, but rather to Not Have to Go To The Store And Buy Stuff. I can forgive a lot when I don't have to get off my butt.

First, cut up the hot dogs into choke-able sized pieces. An inch, inch and a half, ought to do it.

Next, throw pieces on the counter top and yell at children to wash their hands.

Send children back to bathroom to wash their hands again because they aren't aware that within the phrase "wash your hands" is an implied "use soap." Give new instructions.

Throw handful of uncooked spaghetti on counter top.

Pick up pieces of uncooked spaghetti off floor.

Briefly consider using pieces of uncooked spaghetti from the floor anyway. They're gonna get cooked, right? That should kill all the germs, right? Decide that would be sending the wrong message to children and that if you were alone it would be fine, but since they are watching.... wait, if you were alone, you'd be eating garbanzo beans straight from the can so this point is moot.

Have children carefully push four to five pieces of uncooked spaghetti through each hot dog piece. Note: Though you don't have to break the pasta in half and can just use whole pieces of pasta, it's often easier to do so because shorter pasta pieces are less likely to break when kids with little fine motor control poke them through the hot dogs. Note to self: Teach children to keep their hair off food preparation surfaces:


Finished product:


Have an argument with two year old because this above? This does not have five pieces of spaghetti in it.

"Yes it does, Momma."

"No, that's two pieces."

"No, it five pieces."

"Let's count: One, two... two."

"No! Let's *I* count it: One, two... five."

Give up and stick three more pieces in when two year old is not looking.

When you have enough, allow children to put them into a pot of water.


Boil until pasta is cooked and grease from hot dogs rises to the surface of the water. Yummy yum.

Drain. Serve with ketchup. Or spaghetti sauce. Or ranch dressing. These kids don't really care.


Theme of the day: self-sufficiency, frugal living
Word of the day: grease fire