This post is sponsored by Nathan’s Famous. All comment and opinions are my own.

Chili Cheese Dogs are a family favorite at my house. I mean really…who can pass up three tasty foods in one delicious bite?

I like to add them to my menu at least once per month. It’s a quick and easy meal that I know will be well received when dinner time rolls around. But you know me, I am always thinking up new recipes and coming up with ways to shake up our dinner routine.

Ok..so sometimes my recipes are intentional and other times they happen out of necessity. My Chili Cheese Dog Pockets happen to be a recipe that came about because I messed up!

Every morning I look at my weekly menu so I know what I am doing later in the day. I do this to get my game plan going as I might need to pull meat out of the freezer, start the slow cooker, marinate meat…whatever may be needed to be done ahead of time so that I am ready when it’s time to start cooking.

Well, one day I saw that I had chili cheese dogs on the menu. As I started checking to make sure I had everything pulled out and ready to go, I discovered that I had forgotten to buy hot dog buns! NO!!! How can you have chili cheese dogs without buns?

This just happened to be a crazy day and there was no way I had time to swing by the store for buns. So, I starting scrambling and looking all over my kitchen to come up with a different plan. I just happened to have some dough in the fridge that I had put out to thaw. I hadn’t had the chance to bake the bread so I though that maybe I’d just use it to whip up some buns. But, like I said, this was a crazy day and I didn’t have time to deal with the rising, shaping, and baking of homemade buns.

I use bread dough all the time to create homemade pizza pockets, ham & cheese pocket and the like. I figured why not try using it to make Chili Cheese Dog Pockets?!  And, that’s just what I did!

Guys, they were amazing. Who says that you have to have a bun to enjoy a tasty hot dog? The pockets were the perfect vessel to hold all that deliciousness AND super easy to make.

Now, whenever homemade chili is on the menu, this is the recipe that we have the following day. I purposely save enough chili just to whip up a batch of these tasty pockets.

I’ve found that they are actually even easier than regular chili cheese dogs as I can prep the pockets ahead of time and just toss them in the oven about 30 minutes before it’s time to eat. The hour before dinner is one of the most hectic times of the day for me. The boys are usually just getting home, there is homework to get started, the phone is ringing off the hook and there seems to be a million things going on at once. With this recipe, I prep ahead of time and have time to deal with the chaos while dinner bakes up in the oven…easy breezy!

Now is the PERFECT time to give these a try!

We have a sale and coupon for savings on Nathan’s Famous Beef Franks as part of the current Advantage Buy flyer. With those and three other ingredients, you can have this on your menu this week at a price that super easy on your budget.

All you need is some dough, cheese, chili and a pack of Nathan’s Famous Beef Franks and you are in business!

Nathan’s Famous Beef Franks, 10 to 32 oz, 2/$7
-$1/1 Nathan’s Famous Beef Franks, 10 to 32 oz Grocery Advantage Buy Flyer “Extra Savings” In-Ad Publix Coupon (valid 4/13 to 4/26)
Just $2.50 after coupon!

I typically use a 1-lb loaf of frozen bread dough that has been defrosted but, you can also use pizza dough from the Publix bakery or even refrigerated dough and the Chili Cheese Dog Pockets will turn out great!

Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think!