Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Ok... Jen and Amy have been keeping a secret from all of us. This is AMAZING!! We had some friends over tonight before they moved and I had chicken thawed out and was calling around trying to get ideas of what to make. Jen said to make this, she got it off Amy's Pinterest page and it is one of Mitch's favorite meals.

HUGE HIT. Thanks for keeping this a secret, ladies...

So I'm sharing the amazing recipe with y'all and hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

NOTE: I doubled taquitos recipes (not the sauce) and one Taco Bell green salsa bottle was used for the whole thing. And it called for 2 Cups chicken, so doubling it, I just did 5 chicken breasts.

INGREDIENTS

1/3  C (3 oz.) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice (I just used lime juice from the bottle)
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
3 Tbsp chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp sliced green onions
2 C shredded cooked chicken (I boiled mine to cook it)
1 C grated pepper jack or plain jack cheese (we used pepper jack)
small flour or corn tortillas (we did half and half, both were good, flour stayed together better)
kosher salt
cooking spray or olive oil (we used olive oil)

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray. Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add 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 up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

If using corn tortillas, work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave, wrapped in damp paper towels until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. Usually 20-30 seconds. If using flour tortillas straight from the fridge, it helps to warm them in the microwave so they're easier to roll.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of tortilla, keeping about 1" from the edges. Roll up tortillas and place seam down on the prepared baking sheet, not touching one another. Spray lightly with cookin spray, or lightly brush with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown. (I think ours was closer to 25 to make them harder) Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving. Dip in sour cream or this amazing: CREAMY LIME-CILANTRO RANCH dressing. (recipe below)

Freezer Instructions: Prepare the taquitos through rolling them out and placing them on the baking sheet. Place baking sheet in freezer and freeze until solid, then transfer to a large freezer bag. When ready to cook, preheat to 425, place on lined baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

Makes 12-16, when using 6" tortillas, depending on how full you make them.

You can find this fabulous original recipe HERE.

Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing

This is a great Mexican food dipping sauce or salad dressing. The original recipe blog says it's her knock off Costa Vida/Cafe Rio dressing. We used it to dip our Baked Chicken Taquitos, which was amazing!

INGREDIENTS

1 pack (1oz) Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
ignore directions on the packet
1 C mayo
1/2 C buttermilk (or milk works, too I just added about 1-2 tsp of lemon juice as well if I did milk)
1 lime, juiced (about 2 Tbsp. lime juice)
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (or 1 tsp. minced garlic)
1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro
1/4 C green salsa
hot sauce (I totally forget it called for this and never added it, but it was still amazing.)

DIRECTIONS

Mix milk, mayo, ranch in a blender. Add lime juice. Toss in garlic, cilantro and green salsa. Blend. Sample and add hot sauce to taste. Make several hours ahead of time to allow it to thicken.

Original recipe called for a chunky salsa, I only had the Taco Bell Salsa Verde that I used for this and the taquitos and it was great!

Enjoy!

Find the original recipe HERE.

Quinoa, black bean and corn tacos

My friend had tried this recipe and gave it an 8/10 rating so I thought I would try it. It definitely was good. Half way through dinner Elliott said, "We need to make this again. This needs to be one of our regular meals." All my kids loved it. Both boys asked for seconds. Even my 8 month old was shoving it in her mouth by the fist full. I made minor changes to the original recipe. I changed this recipe from the original to make it a one pot meal.

Quinoa, black beans and corn tacos


1 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth or water)
2 (10 oz) cans diced tomatoes with green chilis, undrained (Rotel)
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp.  ground coriander
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
2 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1-1 1/2 Tbsp. Lime juice
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Serve with:
Tortillas (we used corn)
Cheese
Sour cream
Avocados, diced
Shredded lettuce
Tomatoes, diced


In a small frying pan, sauté onions in Olive oil until golden and tender. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add quinoa, chicken broth, diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, coriander, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until quinoa is cooked and mixture is thickened.

Stir in corn and black beans and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in lime juice and cilantro and serve on warm tortillas with desired toppings.


Recipe adapted from Cooking Classy.

Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

I know that this says crock pot, but I actually just made this in a pot in about 20 minutes. I didn't have chicken thawed so I just used canned chicken. I also used garlic salt rather than onion powder and I didn't use cumin. This was all because those are the spices that I had. (That's the way I cook.) 

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts
1 can Rotel Tomatoes (undrained) I used the one with green chilies
1 can corn (undrained)
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 t cumin
1 t onion powder
1 T chili powder
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 pkg cream cheese

Put chicken in the bottom of the crock pot. Add rotel tomatoes, corn, black beans, spices, and ranch dressing mix. Stir. Then add the cream cheese, but do not stir it in.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Before serving stir in the cream cheese.

Almond Joy Cookies

This is Dexter's Mom's recipe. I love them, but I also love coconut!

1 cup butter
1/2 C white sugar
1 1/2 C brown sugar
4 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
4 1/2 C flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
5 C chocolate chips
2 C sweetened coconut
2 C chopped almonds

Pre-heat oven to 375.
Lightly grease cookie sheets. Combine dry ingredient, except the sugars, and set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, stir in the vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients until well mixed, then stir in the chocolate chips, coconut, and almonds. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Sausage Dip

Someone brought this to a school I was teaching at a few years back. It's my favorite dip!

1 can green chilies (4 oz)
1 (8 oz) cream cheese
1 (16 oz) sour cream
1 package regular sausage
1 package Italian sausage
2 cans Mexican tomatoes

Fry sausages in fry pan. Drain grease. Add cream cheese, sour cream, and chilies. Put in crockpot and add tomatoes. Warm and serve with chips.

Creamy Sausage and Spinach Pasta Skillet

 I made this and I loved it! Dexter doesn't really like pasta and he said that he actually really like this! It is almost better on the second day too.

Ingredients

• 6 oz. smoked sausage
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion (We definitely used less than this.)
• 1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes w/chiles
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 8 oz. pasta
• 3 cups fresh spinach
• 1 cup (4 oz.) shredded monterrey jack
• 1 whole green onion 

Instructions

1. Thinly slice the smoked sausage and add it to a large skillet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Saute the sausage over medium heat until it is nicely browned (about 5-7 minutes). Drain off the excess fat.
2. Dice the onion and add it to the skillet. Continue to saute until the onion has softened (about 5 minutes). Add the can of diced tomatoes with chiles and the chicken broth. Stir to combine and dissolve any browned bits off of the bottom of the skillet.
3. Add the uncooked pasta to the skillet and make sure it is all submerged under the liquid. Place a lid on the skillet and allow the mixture to come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for about ten minutes, or until the pasta is tender. Stir once or twice while the pasta cooks to keep it from sticking.
4. Stir in the fresh spinach, one cup at a time, until wilted. If you add it all at once, the skillet will be too full to stir. Keep the heat on while adding the spinach, so the liquid will continue to simmer and thicken.
5. Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top, replace the lid, and let it sit for a few minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Slice the green onions and sprinkle them over top. Serve hot!