Exploding Chicken Taquitos!

Yesterday was a busy day of preschool, cleaning and visiting with friends, and in my whirlwind of a day I noticed that I'd forgotten to take anything out for dinner! EEk! Around 3:30,when things finally settled down, I realized that all of our meats were still frozen, so I reached for the nearest Hungry Girl book, Hungry Girl 1-2-3, and began flipping through the pages! It didn't take me long to find something I could whip up in a snap with ingredients that I had on hand...Exploding Chicken Taquitos! It literally took me under 15 minutes to put them together and ready to toss in the oven for only another 15 minutes! And what a HUGE hit! The boyfriend devoured them and even my sometimes picky dinner eater toddler gobbled hers right up! That was definitely a first, dinner time is usually a battle for us! You can bet that I will stock up on canned chicken the next time I hit the grocery store, as I already have a ton of leftover corn tortillas frozen into packs of 10-15 in my freezer!!

Exploding Chicken Taquitos
Ingredients

• 8 (6 inch) corn tortillas
• 1 (10 ounce) can white chicken meat packed in water, 98% fat free kind, drained well
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1/3 cup fat-free cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/4 teaspoon taco seasoning mix, dry
• red enchilada sauce (optional)
• salsa (optional)
• nonfat sour cream (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken and salsa, and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
3. Remove chicken mixture from the fridge, and drain any excess liquid. Add cheese and taco seasoning, and mix to combine. This is your filling. Set aside.
4. Prepare a baking sheet by spraying with nonstick spray, and set it aside.
5. Dampen two paper towels, and place tortillas between them. Microwave for about 1 minute, until tortillas are warm and pliable.
6. Take one tortilla (keep the rest between the paper towels), spray both sides lightly with nonstick spray, and lay it flat on a clean dry surface. Spoon about 2 heaping tablespoons of filling onto the tortilla. Spread it evenly across the entire surface, and roll tortilla up tightly, so that you have a cigar-shaped tube. Secure with toothpicks and place seam-side down on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.
7. Bake for 14 - 16 minutes, until crispy. Allow taquitos to cool for 5 minutes. If you like, dunk in enchilada sauce, salsa, or sour cream!

PER SERVING (2 taquitos): 197 calories, 2.5g fat, 594mg sodium, 22.5 carbs, 3g fiber, 2g sugars, 20.5g protein