TAH-kee-toes! Taquitos!!

Oh my goodness.  These were quite a find.

I am a fan of cooking up a bunch of chicken in the crock pot on Sunday so that we have fewer decisions to make during the week.  Plus, I am a fan of decreasing my family's dependence on convenience foods (because a little planning means you can be convenient and healthy on your own).  Plus I am a big fan of cutting my family's meat consumption, not because I am some crazy granola vegan (not that there is anything at all wrong with that--I'm talking stereotypes here people--remember I am not the sarcastic blogger) but because there are a wide variety of foods out there and we should expand our palates.  And on top of all that, meat can be expensive so I like to stretch meat as far as it will go.

Soooo, with that in mind, I went looking for some recipes to use shredded chicken.  I found several great looking recipes over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe which of course I highly recommend.  When she posts recipes, she gives a source for her recipe and then tells how she altered it.  I have great respect for someone who gives credit to a source.  Thumbs up Mel!

OK, so the great find. . .an older recipe on the site:  Baked Chicken Taquitos. 

I have to be honest.  I am terrible at following directions.  In the process of making this I discovered that no, I did not in fact have any garlic powder.  So I substituted a little minced garlic from the fridge.  And then I was concerned that I didn't have enough for my always starving hubby.  Thusly, I added more green salsa, cream cheese, chili powder and cumin so that the spices were the same.  And we aren't huge fans of corn tortillas so we used flour tortillas.

But other than that. . .LOL.

And they were fantastic.  I credit the original recipe as being absolutely idiot proof!  I placed a link to Mel's recipe at the bottom of this post.  What follows is how we did it:

Baked Chicken Taquitos

8 ounces cream cheese, softened (can do this in the microwave if needed)
1/2 cup green salsa
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
3/4 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
flour tortillas (we used 12 large)

Cooking spray

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Combine cream cheese, green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and garlic powder.  Add chicken and mix well.

Put a few tablespoons of the mixture on the lower third of a soft tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges. Roll the tortilla up tightly.

Put the wrapped taquito seam side down on the baking sheet.  Ideally, they won't touch each other (but mine did) When you have them all filled and rolled, spray the tops lightly with cooking spray.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown. Serve immediately.

We dipped ours in green salsa, regular salsa, ranch dressing, and even barbeque sauce.

Our family quickly decided that we are in fact making these part of the regular supper rotation!

 Baked Chicken Taquitos from Mel's Kitchen Cafe