Day 32: Mini Corn Dog Muffins for Lunch, Spaghetti & Meatballs for Dinner

I realized that I forgot to include my recipe for homemade croutons in yesterday's post.  Luckily, I made them again tonight!  Along with spaghetti and meatballs tonight, we had salad with homemade croutons and my garlic/basil bread.  But first, let's talk about lunch...

Another playdate today--we've been busy this week in the best way possible!  For a fun lunch, I made my batter for "skillet" cornbread.  I then placed mini hot dogs in my mini muffin tray and poured the batter in.   I had some extra hot dogs, so I used my regular muffin tin for that and made "double dog" corn muffins in those trays.  (Thanks, Erica, for the "double dog" phrase!)  I baked the muffins at 375* for 10-12 minutes.  (*Make sure you grease the muffin trays.  Because there's a whole stick of melted butter in the corn bread batter, I thought I could do without greasing the trays--I paid the price for that one.  I'll definitely spray them good next time!)

These were a huge success with the kids AND adults!  What a great lunch for all!

Dinner recipe "extras":

Homemade Croutons
5-6 slices day-old bread, cubed (you may remove the crusts if you want)
2 TB dried basil leaves

1 TB dried oregano leaves
1 TB dried parsley
2 tsp garlic powder
1-2 TB grated parmesan
salt, pepper
1/2 cup olive oil + more if necessary

Start with the olive oil and add the herbs and spices plus the parmesan cheese.  Mix together.  Add the cubed bread and mix by hand to ensure that all the bread is coated but it doesn't break.  Place a cooling rack on a baking sheet so the cubes will be elevated.  Place the bread cubes on the cooling rack.  Bake at 350* for 15-10 minutes or until golden brown.
These are best made the day-of.  They will keep for a few days in a airtight container, but start losing their crisp after the first day.  

Garlic Basil butter

Use 1 stick of butter at room temperature or softened.
I start with 2 gloves of garlic, finely minced.  I then add a pinch of kosher salt and use my wooden pestle (or the back of a spoon) to smash the garlic and salt, bringing out the juices.  Add the softened butter, and about 2-3 tsp chopped, fresh basil.  Mix together.  Spread a thick layer of the butter over bread, and place under the broiler until melted and the sides of the bread start to brown.  Roll the remaining butter into a log with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator or freezer for a later date.