Shredded Beef Taquitos

This recipe was inspired by Mel the beloved's baked chicken taquitos.  I had cooked a two pound roast in the crockpot (I believe it was tri-tip roast, though I don't know that it would really matter), and we ALWAYS have a ton of left overs when I make a roast.  The night after the roast (which was cooked with cream of mushroom soup and dry onion soup mix and was perfectly wonderful and tender), I reheated the meat with a packet of taco seasonings and we ate tacos.  And we still had at least 2 cups of perfectly taco-tasty shredded beef.  I thought...."self, I wonder if mel has a beef taquito recipe?" Oh no she didn't!  But, she DID have baked CHICKEN taquitos and that's where our story continues....anyway here's the recipe.  It was SO GOOD.  I never EVER have used corn tortillas, but this was absolutely delicious and made me think, hey, I should find more recipes that call for corn tortillas.  AND I LOVE that this recipe was made from left over meat!  I love when you can make something new from something that would probably be thrown out in a couple of days!

2 C shredded beef previously taco seasoned
1/4 C green salsa
4 ounces softened cream cheese
1 T fresh lime juice
1 green onion finely sliced
1 C grated monterey jack cheese
small yellow or white corn tortillas
sea salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix softened cream cheese, green salsa and lime juice. Stir to combine and then add green onions. Add beef and cheese and combine well.
<You can prepare this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.>
Working with a few tortillas at a time, place 3-4 between two damp paper towels and microwave for 30-45 seconds, until tortillas are soft and pliable and don’t crack while rolling. Place 2-3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture on the lower third of a soft tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges. Then roll it up as tight as you can. It totally makes a difference when you microwave them with the damp paper towels.  Don't skip that step. 
Place filled taquitos seam side down on the baking sheet, making sure they don’t touch each other. When ready to bake, spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and lightly sprinkle some sea (coarse) salt on top.
Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown. Serve immediately. Taquitos can be dipped in anything you like.  I mixed some of the left over green salsa with sour cream and it was dreamy.  Brian tried it dipped in regular salsa and liked that too!  It made plenty for a delicious lunch the next day too!

If you want, you can bake them for about ten minutes, take them out and cool them, then freeze them on a baking sheet for an hour, bag them, and you have insta-taquitos at your fingertips!