Big Batch Baked Taquitos

Guys!  I got a job!  Sorta!  For the next 90 days anyways!

I've got a contracting job that I am suuuuper excited about.  It's web-based with a ton of creative freedom.  If all works out well, there's potential for a full-time gig.  And hey, I'm just excited to get out.  I love being here in the lil ole house.  But it's going to be wonderful to leave it during the daylight hours.  (I hear absence makes the heart grow fonder.)  I'll get to meet some new folks.  Do what I DO!  And with that in mind, it's time to get ahead on some cooking.  

I've been craving some taquitos for the last week or so.  My mom sent me a picture of she & my dad enjoying Mexican food & in front of my mom was a delicious pile of tasty, crunchy taquitos.

Since then, I've been having dreams about someone else's dinner...

I did some poking around on the internet for taquito recipes.  After perusing the land of Pinterest, I decided to bake them.  And sort of wing it with my modified slow cooker chicken taco meat as a base.

I put 4 large chicken breasts in the bottom with chopped onions on top.  Seasoned it all with taco seasoning, a couple generous shakes of chili powder, a small can of green chiles & then poured a jar of salsa verde on top to just cover it all.

The chicken mix cooked for 3 hours on high & then I shredded it.  (This was the most time-consuming part.  And warm.  The hot slow cooker shockingly made me very warm.)  Added 2 tablespoons of light cream cheese that I had sitting around bored, a bunch of chopped green onions & a couple handfuls of shredded pepper jack.
 


I used small flour tortillas but I'm sure corn would be good as well.  I rolled 'em up & secured them with a toothpick, just to be on the safe side.  And popped them in the oven.



They baked for 10 minutes at 425º.  While they were baking, I mixed up a little jalapeno Greek yogurt dipping sauce.  (Which was a good distraction to keep me from opening the oven for a peek.)  I was really hoping they were getting crispy.



And they were!  Hurrah!  They had a great crunch.

It was easy to make a big batch of these on a Sunday afternoon.  The base recipe was pretty much just the chicken & salsa verde.  Which was a good foundation for tossing in some leftover ingredients I had laying around.  Simple to grab & warm later in the week.  (Like, perchance to put in a lunch bag for work!)  These would also freeze well.  Oh.  And super tasty.  Big batch success.

Chicken breasts  $5.00
Tortillas  $2.58
Green onion bunch .99
White onion  $1.00
Small can green chilies .99
Salsa verde  $1.25
Shredded pepper jack $2.00
Total Meal $13.81
$2.30 per serving*   
*3 taquitos per serving.  18 taquitos total.