La Cantina de Carolina

When it comes to eating gluten free, it's hard to find a lot of affordable frozen foods to keep around for those times when you need a quick meal. Most gf frozen meals are about $6. NO WAY. I am becoming more and more sensitive to cross contamination at fast food places, so my remedy for rushed or low blood sugar moments has been cooking and freezing several meals that can be heated up at a moments notice. The seal a meal is my new best friend.

I love chicken taquitoes. There are actually a few brands that are gluten free. However, they are pricey and dense with a lot of fillers. They also have more fat than necessary and not as much protein as they could have. The kind from Whole Foods are liked $100 for 1. Okay, not really, but you get my drift. Here's a recipe I found for home made taquitoes that are SO cheap and healthy and YUMMY (pictures and recipe from here).Even though it takes some time, I would recommend making a bunch at once and freezing them for a quick meal or protein snack.

Taquitoes:

-Frozen chicken (approx. 4lb)... This is a great usage of a CSA whole chicken. I don't like dark meat, but I was able to use it mixed with white meat and couldn't tell a difference.

-Seasonings for chicken as desired (Salt, pepper, jalapeno juice, cumin, garlic, onion)

-50 corn tortillas vegetable oil (for frying)

-Oil (I used grape seed oil)

1. Fill your crock-pot to the brim with frozen chicken breast or whole chicken. Cook on high 4hrs or on low all day. Shred the chicken in your food processor (or if you don't have one, use your bare hands :). Season chicken to taste.

2. Use just enough cooking oil to coat the bottom of the skillet or pan you are using. This will vary depending on the size of your skillet and you will have to add a small amount with each new batch.

3. Heat tortillas until they just begin to bubble then remove and place cooked side up on paper towels.

4. Spoon chicken into the tortilla’s (on the cooked side) and roll, then place them, seam side down, on the skillet to fry the other side. Be careful not to get over excited about the chicken and overfill them. They need to wrap 1 1/2 times around so they don't fall apart while eating them. It works well to pack them tight so they do not have room to unroll. Turn them once that side is toasted (about 5 minutes).

5. Freeze and when you need a quick meal heat on a grill 5 min each side or microwave wrapped in paper towels for 1-3min.

OR

6. Use in an enchilada recipe! I was wanting some enchiladas one night, so here's what I did...

Take desired amount of taquitoes out of freezer and place in casserole dish (I used 8). Mix together: 8 oz sour cream, 8 oz monterey jack cheese, 1 can green chilies, minced cilantro, and 1/2-1 cup of green tomatillo salsa. Pour over taquitoes and bake at 350 until bubbly. DELICIOUS.