Have you seen the movie What the Health? It's a documentary created by Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn in 2017. The documentary questions the connections of some of our most prominent foundations in clinical research and their ties to the food industry. The documentary makers explore how these relationships influence the messages we receive about what is healthy and what is not. The film was nominated for an NAACP – Image Award for an outstanding documentary in 2018. The documentary also explores the food industry in areas that will make you think twice about the meat you eat.

I must admit it got me thinking. With Labor Day right around the corner and hot dogs indeed on the menu, I decided to take to the internet searching for a healthier hot dog. What I found was nothing short of surprising. Could it really be a healthy hot dog? Or was it just a carrot? What I stumbled upon was a recipe that would make you want to throw your hot dogs ours for a familiar veggie, the carrot!

With my daughter wanting to eat hot dogs nearly every night, I knew this had to be my next exploration into the realm of healthy. The picture above was the results of our cooking test. I must admit, with all of the toppings, this option tasted a lot like the original with much less guilt. In addition to the hot dog, we also used the baby carrots to create pigs in a blanket. We took our healthy pigs to a friend's house and paired with horseradish mustard. Everyone was digging in, and they got high marks all around. We even made a second batch the next day, pictured below. The dough wasn't as fluffy as the first batch, and the overnight marinade didn't make a huge difference, but they were still delicious and a welcome snack.