Hot dogs play a big role at meal time in our household because our kids {especially our son} loves them. So, I am excited to partner with Hillshire Brands™ and the Mom It Forward Blogger Network for this post. As always, while I may have been compensated, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

Kids are funny when it comes to their eating habits. Mine focus on a few specific items and that is all they want to eat for weeks at a time. Then, they don’t like it anymore…at least until they tire of whatever they moved on to. Two thins that never get rejected are hot dogs and macaroni and cheese. To make my life easier, I just typically combine them and make a dish like white cheddar macaroni and cheese with hot dogs. It is always a win!

Adding hot dogs to the pasta is a great way to get protein into my kids! It isn’t typically easy to get them to eat meat so I will take all of the help I can get in that area.

What You’ll Need:

16 oz box of pasta {I chose rotini}
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 quart half and half
½ cup heavy cream
3 oz cream cheese, softened
2 1/2 cups grated white cheddar
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
6 Ball Park Beef hot dogs, sliced

Let’s Make It:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

2) Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Once boiling, add salt and pasta. Cook until al dente and then drain. 

3) Meanwhile, in a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and begin slowly adding half and half letting each prior addition incorporate before adding more. Let cook for 4-5 minutes.  Whisk in heavy cream, cream cheese, 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and Dijon mustard. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Combine 1 1/2 cups of white cheddar with cooled pasta and cheese sauce. Stir to mix well. Stir in hot dog pieces.

4) Pour pasta into greased baking dish and top with the remaining white cheddar. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

This recipe is great for leftovers too which is perfect for our household because the kids always want to eat it like 5 days in a row!

Hillshire Brands™ offers a lot of other great ways, beyond Ball Park Hot Dogs, to incorporate protein into your meals. Don’t forget to sign up for the Safeway Just 4 U program so that you can get offers, coupons and special offers emailed to you or view them in your phone app. To sign up for free, click here. Once you do, you can view all of the coupons available each week and add them to your cart so you never have to cut and sort from the newspaper again.

Want some more inspiration for ways to incorporate protein into your meals using Hillshire Brands™ products? Check out these recipes!

Spooky Mummy Dogs
Pesto Alfredo Tortellini Pasta with Smoked Sausage
Fried Rice
Crustless Sausage Zucchini Quiche
Lil’ Smokies and Spinach Tartlets
Sausage and Peppers with Crispy Polenta
Gluten Free Sausage and Pea Alfredo
Ditalini and Sausage Soup