DIY Corn Dogs

If you like corn and you like dogs, you’ll love these. No, wait a minute. That sounds terrible. Lets’ start again.

If you like fried foods, but you don’t like inflammation and heart disease, these are for you! Hmmmm…. not so tantalizing.

These corn dogs are freakin delicious and they don’t have any crap in them. They are also free of common food sensitivities like dairy, gluten, sugar, shrimp, soy, peanuts, antifreeze and eggplant. Better?

Let’s be real, this is all about nostalgia. If you secretly or not so secretly miss corn dogs from your school cafeteria days, these will not only scratch that itch, but they’re a major upgrade, because they actually taste better and are made with real food (unless you want them because frankenmeat makes you wax nostalgic, then you’re out of luck). If you’re vegetarian, you can use the batter to make corn broccoli or corn zucchini. 

We are dusting off this recipe we came up with in March of 2013, because it’s simply a crime to keep it away from humanity. It’s a fairly simple recipe, and, yes, these corn dogs are fried. What are they fried in? They are fried in oil, virgin coconut oil to be exact. No, they are not oven baked or low fat.

How is it that some wellness guides are telling you to dip some weenies in batter and fry them? It’s because we have THREE relevant philosophies here:

FIRST, everything in moderation, including moderation (This means you can have uncompromising standards and decadence without having a stick up your you-know-what. You will need to put a stick up your sausage, however. See photos below).

SECONDLY, dietary fats as a broad category are a vital nutrient source. They are not bad for you; nor do they cause heart disease and obesity as long as they are unrefined, not hydrogenated and not heated above their smoking point, which damages their molecular structure and releases free radicals and gross substances like acrolein. 

In short, fats are really good for you as long as they are not rancid or damaged. Damaged fats cause inflammation and can contribute to heart disease among other gnarly things. 

In other words, wholesome fats are not the devil, but damaged and hydrogenated fats are the devil.

Are we clear now? Moving right along… 

THIRDLY, our healthy hedonism philosophy about fried foods resembles our philosophy about desserts. If you’re going to indulge, make your own, so you can control the quality of ingredients. The exception would be if there’s a conscious chef who only uses pure, unadulterated ingredients, as is the case with our Personal Chef Services. 

If we are going to fry, we do so at only a medium temperature so as to avoid the dreaded smoking point (that’s the devil himself emerging from your frying pan). For this recipe, we turn to unrefined coconut oil. The smoking point for coconut oil is around 350° according to the internet gods, so beware and do not confuse water vapor and smoke. They look and smell very different. 

The bottom line about frying in our opinion:

Frying, even in perfect virginal medium heat oil, does create some free radicals and can be heavy on digestion, so we don’t recommend doing it every day. This is also why re-using fry oil is not a wise idea. At the same time, you can choose high-quality ingredients, so there’s no reason to never eat fried foods again, especially from fear of obesity and heart disease. Just make your own!

We wholeheartedly encourage us all to rewire the parts of our brains that have been infiltrated with the pop culture fried food guilt trip. All fried foods are not created equal. Ingredient quality is crucial. On the other hand, if feeling like you’re doing something naughty feels good, enjoy your decadence with a deep knowing that guilt never feels good and is not good for your heart or your bottom line…

Now, let’s get to mixin’, dippin’, fryin’, and eatin’!

Go forth and make corn dogs. Play with your food and have fun making upgraded junk food! In this way, home-made comfort foods can actually be a part of your self-nurture process.

We love to support people on their individualized healing journeys through our functional health coaching services and online programs. Let us know how we can serve you!