Trial and Error, Baked Chicken Taquitos

Good Morning everyone! This recipe is my first one on the blog that didn't turn out exactly the way I wanted it too, but that's alright because I said in my first post, that I will post recipes even if they end up needing tweaking, or a little something extra.  The only thing that I didn't like about my Chicken Taquitos, is that the corn tortillas, during baking, split open. :(  When I opened up the package of corn tortillas they were soft and seemed pliable, so I just went for it.  They rolled up just fine, but when baking them, they split open.  Which truthfully didn't stop my husband and I from enjoying them, one bit, but they just weren't as pretty as I was hoping.  I did some research online this morning, and found that if you bake corn tortillas they need a lot of moisture. Some people dipped them in simmering chicken broth, water, or just sprayed them with water, before they baked them.  I think next time around I will dip them in water, stuff them, roll them up and bake them.  I still like the idea of baking them rather then frying, because it cuts out a lot of fat.  I must say that the stuffing I made for the inside was yummy! That definitely wasn't a trial and error at all.  I will use the same recipe next time, but maybe add a tiny bit more Cumin, and Chile Powder.  Please let me know if any of you have any other ideas on how to bake corn tortillas without them cracking, I would love more ideas! 

Baked Chicken Taquitos

Ingredients:

• Chicken Breasts, cooked and shredded.  I used 8 chicken tenders and boiled them, then shredded them
• A large Ziploc Bag
• 1/2 cup Green Pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup Green Onion, diced
• 1/2 cup Carrot, shredded
• 1TSP Olive Oil
• 1 small can Green Chilies(sorry I didn't look at how many ounces) but there are usually only two sizes in the store
• 3TBLS Sour Cream
• 1/2 TSP Cumin(or a tad more)
• 1/2 TSP Chili Powder(or a tad more)
• 1/4 TSP Garlic Powder
• 1/4 TSP Onion Powder
• 1 cup Pepper Jack Cheese, shredded
• Corn Tortillas
• Flour Tortillas(I personally liked the Corn better, but both are good)
• Dipping sauces. Whatever kind you prefer. I served mine with, homemade guac, salsa, and sour cream

I didn't take a picture of cooking the chicken because everyone has there own way of doing that. Whatever way suits you. Here is the chicken after I shredded it.

Place the chicken in a bag, and open up a can of Green Chilies, which to my husband and I, is HEAVEN.  We would eat Green Chilies out of the can if we could...YUM

Add the Green Chilies to the bag with the Chicken.

Dice up the Green Pepper, Green Onion, and shred the Carrots. I used baby carrots, so they were already peeled, if you want to go that route.

Add the Olive Oil, and veggies to a skillet, and saute until tender, or to your liking. Let cool, then dump it in the bag with the chicken.

In a little dish, add the Sour Cream, Cumin, Chili Powder, Garlic Powder, and Onion Powder. This cute little glass dish I used, I bought from my Grandma's garage sale a LONG time ago. I bought eight for fifty cents, what a deal right? She has passed away now, so I treasure these little guys.

Mix it up

Add it to the bag, with all the other goodies.

Close the bag, and roll it around to get all the ingredients incorporated, and that lovely sauce on everything. Refrigerate for 1/2 hour or so to let the flavors mingle.  Grate the Pepper Jack Cheese, and steal a couple bites, it's a must. :)

Now this is the point where you would heat up some water, or chicken broth, and dip the corn tortillas in it for a couple seconds. (which I did not do. BOO me!) You cook, and learn, then you cook again. Lay the corn tortilla out on a flat surface, and spoon in  2TBLS of the filling.  I added a tad more because I wanted to only eat a few at dinner, and not like 6 little guys.  Save some calories without eating more tortillas. It is up to you though, because Taquitos are normally little thin guys.

Sprinkle on some delicious cheese

Roll up, and place on a foil covered baking sheet.  I made flour tortilla taquitos too, and you don't place them in the water, just wrap them up! I also sprayed some cooking spray on them after I was done filling all of them.  I was hoping this would help create a crispy brown top, but nope it didn't. The flour tortillas came out crispy, but looked exactly the way they did in the beginning, so don't let that fool you on the cooking time, which it almost did for me.

MmmMmm

Bake at 350 to 425 degrees.  I started at 350 then turned it up to 425. Maybe the higher heat contributed to the cracking of the tortillas?? Near the end of cooking I turned it on to broil, to see if I could get the tops to brown a little and it didn't. Bummer, oh well. I learned. Here are my poor looking taquitos. ;)

The corn tortilla taquitos still held together perfectly when transferring them to a plate, so really if you don't mind how they look, and want to skip that water step, then go for it.  Even though they don't look the best, they still taste the same, and that is delicious! Enjoy! Let me know if you have any suggestions, please!

Question of the Day!



There are so many low fat, fat free versions of just about everything out there, are there any items that you have tried the low fat, fat free version and didn't like at all, so you refuse to buy it, and just stick to the "full fat" version?? Anything you think of??

This one is pretty easy for me. When I do buy Cheese Its, I HAVE to buy the full fat version, and the Cheese It name brand.  I have tried the others, and they are NOT the same!  Also, I do buy low fat Mayonnaise, but cannot stomach the fat free kind, ICK! I buy fat free milk, which I used to not like. Used to only drink 2%. Whole milk, makes me feel like I need to chew, ULTRA ICK.

Hope to hear from you all! Have a good rest of your day!!