Baked Taquitos

These taquitos are a great recipe to mix up the lunchtime routine. They are very simple to put together. The best part is they can be made ahead of time and stored in the freezer for a quick and easy lunch. The original recipe was posted on My Kitchen Cafe. In the original post the recipe called for chicken. I have made these a few times now and have substituted shredded beef for the chicken. Both varieties turned out great so you can make these to your families liking. I imagine you could probably even use refried beans in place of the meat too.

Makes 14-16 taquitos

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4-1/2 cup green salsa

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro (optional)

1 green onion, sliced finely (white and green parts to equal about 2 tablespoons)

2 cups shredded cooked chicken, or beef (I cook large batches of chicken in my crockpot with a little chicken broth and salt, shred it and freeze it for meals like this)

1 cup grated monterey jack cheese (use pepperjack if you like a little heat)

small yellow or white corn tortillas

kosher salt

cooking spray

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray. In a medium-sized bowl, mix softened cream cheese, green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and garlic powder. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well. You can prepare this step ahead of time (which I did - I made it the morning of). Just keep the mixture in the fridge.Working with a few tortillas at a time, place 3-4 between two damp paper towels and microwave for 30-45 seconds, until tortillas are soft and pliable and don't crack while rolling. Place 2-3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture on the lower third of a soft tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges. Then roll it up as tight as you can. (A few of mine wanted to rebel and come unrolled so I stuck a toothpick through them to keep them right and tight.) Place filled taquitos seam side down on the baking sheet, making sure they don't touch each other. When ready to bake, spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and lightly sprinkle some kosher (coarse) salt on top. Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown. Serve immediately. Taquitos can be dipped in in salsa, sour cream, guacamole, or any other combination you can dream up (my kids liked ranch dressing - go figure).

**To freeze taquitos- Place wrapped taquitos on a plate and place in the freezer. After taquitos have hardened transfer them to a ziploc bag. When you are ready to bake the taquitos, place them on a baking sheet, (I let mine sit out on the baking sheet while the oven preheated to take some of the chill off of them before spraying them with Pam) spray with Pam and cook at 425 degrees for 15-20 min.