Easy Taquitos

easy taquitos

I have this one cousin that does not follow recipes. Melissa is a great cook, but do not expect a recipe from her. She can give you the ingredients, and you can figure it out for yourself, but there will be no hard copy, step-by-step recipe. You might say she measures with her heart. I sometimes find it odd that the same village of ladies raised us. 😂

When she told me how delicious and easy these taquitos were, I had to give them a shot. Greg and I loved them, and my grown children did too. Savannah, Ashley, and Wes have already made them at their own homes.

You can play around with these amounts and even add ingredients to your liking. For example, Savannah changed them up a bit, which was delicious. If you start by adding ingredients sparingly, I don’t see how you could mess these taquitos up.

Easy Taquitos

Course Main Course
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese room temperature
  • 1 whole rotisserie chicken, meat picked from bones or cooked chicken of your choice
  • 1-2 teaspoons minced garlic or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2-3 tablespoons dry Ranch dressing mix
  • ground black pepper to taste
  • salt if needed for taste
  • diced jalapeno or chopped chipotle pepper with adobo sauce optional
  • 1 cup shredded cheese Cheddar, or a Mexican mix
  • small corn or flour tortillas
  • melted butter
  • salsa optional for serving
  • sour cream optional for serving

Instructions

  • Preheat air fryer or oven to 425℉. If you are baking in an oven spray baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
  • Using an electric mixer, mix the cream cheese and chicken until combined. Add in any of the seasonings that you choose. Taste for seasoning. Add jalapeños if using. Stir in shredded cheese. .
  • For corn tortillas, heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Heat tortillas in the skillet for a few seconds on each side, in order for them roll without breaking. Remove the tortillas to a foil covered plate to keep them warm.
  • Place filling in a line along each tortilla. Roll tightly and brush with melted butter. Place seam side down in your air fryer or in a sprayed baking dish.
  • Bake for 10 - 20 minutes or until slightly browned and crispy.
  • Delicious with salsa and sour cream.

Notes

Store leftovers in an airtight container refrigerated.  Reheat in oven or air fryer until warmed.  

Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing AND Spicy Salsa Ranch Dressing

Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing and Spicy Salsa Ranch Dressing

Have you ever found a recipe that, from the moment you taste it, you just know it will be your new best friend? Oh my word, that is precisely how I feel about today’s recipes. The combination of these two dressings takes this salad over the top! However, each dressing alone has so much potential. Independently, they could be great dips for chicken fingers, on tacos, or so much more.

Using a popular chicken sandwich restaurant as inspiration, we made our salad with lettuce, black beans, tomatoes, shredded cheese, red onion, sliced black olives, grilled chicken, and grilled steak and topped with fried tortilla strips. I used the Cilantro Lime marinade I recently posted to marinate the chicken and steak for two hours each.

Avocado Lime Ranch Dressing

Course Salad
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 2 ripe Haas avocados pulp scooped out
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 3/4 teaspoon dried dill
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon water to thin a bit

Instructions

  • You may use a food processor or blender. Start by placing the avocado pulp, mayonnaise, vinegar, buttermilk, lime juice, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, dill, sugar, salt and pepper in container of the blending device you will be using.
  • Blend until smooth, scrapping down the sides occasionally with a spatula.
  • With lid on and blender running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil.
  • Then is the dressing needs to be thinned a bit, using the same process, drizzle in water 1 tablespoon at a time until you have reached the desired consistency.
  • Taste and adjust salt and pepper or any other seasonings, if desired.

Notes

Store in a jar in the refrigerator for an hour or two before serving.
Will keep up to 5 days in the refrigerator.  

Spicy Salsa Ranch Dressing

Course Salad
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 1 (1-ounce) packet Hidden Valley Spicy Ranch Salad Dressing Mix
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup jarred salsa

Instructions

  • Combine dressing mix, mayonnaise, buttermilk, and salsa in a bowl. Whisk to combine. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving. Keep refrigerated.

Alabama Fire Crackers

I know that most of you know I love football season. I love gathering with friends and tailgating! However, have I ever really been honest with you about the game of football itself? I don’t think so. I do not understand the game at all. Nope, my son played four years in high school, and now he has been coaching for several years; I am totally in the dark at a football game. I have only missed a handful of his game too. We travel to the games near and far. I even bought Football for Dummies once. That book was so dull that I had to put it down and pick up a cookbook to read!

But I do love tailgating! I enjoy the cool, crisp air, the food, and the whole social scene of football. Today I am going to share with you one of the easiest tailgating recipes ever. Alabama Fire Crackers, which has been around for years, and it is one of my favorites. It’s like the old Lay’s commercial use to say, you can’t eat just one. The blend of seasonings on plain saltine crackers are perfect for snacking.  If you do not care so much for the “fire” you can leave the red pepper flakes out. 

So try these super easy recipes for your next tailgating party. They are sure to please!

 

Alabama Fire Crackers

Course Appetizer
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 16 ounce box saltine crackers
  • 2 cups oil olive or canola
  • 4 tablespoons Ranch dressing mix
  • 1 - 3 tablespoons red pepper flakes
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Pour the oil into a zip top gallon bag.
  • Add the dressing mix, red pepper flakes, onion powder, garlic powder, and black pepper. Carefully whisk to combine.
  • Add saltine crackers, seal the bag and gently "toss" the crackers to coat.
  • Set aside overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 250℉.
  • Arrange crackers in a singer layer on baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes.
  • Allow the crackers to cool on baking sheet. Store in airtight container until ready to serve.

Buffalo Ranch Stuffed Chicken

Do you ever get in a rut with food? It seems I have a handful of favorites that I cook over and over again. They are simple, delicious, and never let me down. However, I go through phases when I want something new and different. Times when I get tired of the same ol’ same ol’! Are you with me? I can ask Greg for suggestions, but ultimately, it’s always up to me to decide what we are having.

I have had this recipe on the back burner for a while but just recently tried it. Often, it’s not that a new recipe requires more time, effort, or ingredients. It is just something that requires you to actually follow a recipe rather than throwing a few things together.

We are all about anything buffaloed at this house. This Buffalo Ranch Stuffed Chicken has incredible flavor! It was also so simple that it is now a regular in my rotation of dinner recipes. From a blog that I recently discovered, thatlowcarblife.com, this recipe is an all- around winner!

Buffalo Ranch Stuffed Chicken

Course Keto, Main Course
Servings 4
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts about 6 ounces each
  • 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
  • 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
  • 1 packet Ranch dressing mix
  • 1/2 cup buffalo sauce
  • Ranch or blue cheese dressing for serving

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375℉. Spay a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
  • Mix the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and Ranch dressing mix, set aside.
  • Place the chicken breasts on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to cut a pocket into the side of each breast, being careful not to cut through.
  • Divide cream cheese mixture among the chicken breasts and evenly stuff inside the pocket.
  • Place the chicken in the prepared baking sheet and brush heavily with buffalo sauce.
  • Bake for 25 minutes, brushing with additional sauce after 10 minutes.
  • Before serving, drizzle with additonal buffalo sauce and dressing of your choice.

Notes

Blue cheese crumbled may be used instead of cheddar cheese.  
Nutritional Info:  Net Carbs:  4g; Fat:  20g; Protein:  42g; Calories:  374