“I’m really into writing short fiction — mainly to-do lists.”

My friend Stephanie sent this meme in a group text recently, and I promise you, nothing else I’ve read has ever felt so relatable.

That’s especially been true these past two weeks, as my daughters and I have all been out of school for Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District’s fall intersession. Back at the end of September, I had big plans for these weeks.

I was going to declutter the entire kitchen. Wash down the bathroom walls. Organize the laundry room. Install a pegboard and tidy up the back entrance. And that was just the first week!

The second week was predicted to be much cooler than the first, so I was going to clear off the front porch and scrub the floor. I would assemble a couple metal shelving units in the basement and organize it into storage zones.

Yes, the person I was going to become over that break was really impressive. Do I really need to tell you that the front porch remains an unholy, pollen-covered mess? Or that the pegboard is still in my back seat?

No, I didn’t think I would need to tell you. Maybe you can relate. Or maybe you can judge me. Either is OK with me.

My friend Elizabeth is a lot like me in that she plans massive homekeeping improvements during her breaks, too. The difference between us is tiny: she generally fulfills her plans.

When she texted a few days ago asking for suggestions for good freezable meals, I knew she was likely to actually make them. So I knew which recipe I had to share with her: creamy chicken taquitos.

These taquitos are one of the very few foods I have made to freeze over and over again. For one thing, they are a favorite in our household. My eldest daughter Julia especially likes them and has even requested them to be her birthday meal on several occasions.

For another, they freeze individually. That means they make a great quick lunch for one just as easily as they make a good dinner for the family. I detest those recipes that tell me to triple wrap an entire casserole and write directions on the wrapping only so I can take up eleventy thousand square inches of freezer space and later try to remember to thaw out said enormous casserole before baking it for 90 minutes.

I am not trying to participate in a freezer meal triathlon here. I want to simplify my life, not complicate it.

To that end, I usually double this recipe. We eat half (or sometimes a third) of the total number of taquitos, and I freeze the rest. Bonus: the doubled recipe makes about 30 taquitos, which is exactly the number of corn tortillas in the smaller sized package they sell in my grocery store.

Amelia Plair is a mom and high school teacher in Starkville. Email reaches her at [email protected].

BAKED CHICKEN TAQUITOS

Adapted from OurBestBites.com

Ingredients
4 oz. cream cheese (½ brick), softened
¼ c. green salsa (regular is also good)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
½ tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
½ tsp. Onion powder
¼ tsp. garlic powder
½ c. chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp. sliced green onions (I usually do not have these, so I double the onion powder)
2 c. shredded cooked chicken (I use chicken breast that has been cooked in the slow cooker for about 4 hours, but any cooked chicken will do)
1 c. shredded cheese (pepper jack is best, but I have also used colby, jack, or cheddar)
Small corn tortillas (about 15)
large-grain salt
Cooking oil, preferably in a spray bottle

Directions
■ Preheat oven to 425. Mix softened cream cheese with salsa, lemon juice, seasonings, cilantro, and green onions. Add shredded chicken and cheese. Mix all ingredients together gently. Microwave tortillas in small batches of about five. (Wrap tortillas in a damp paper towel and heat for about 20 seconds. This keeps them from cracking when you roll them up.) Place 2-3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture in the bottom third of the tortilla. (I use scant scoops of a cookie scoop that holds ¼ cup.) Roll the tortilla up tightly from bottom to top. Place taquitos seam side down on a baking sheet. Mist or brush the top of the taquitos with oil and sprinkle with salt.** Bake for 15-20 minutes in conventional oven or about 12 minutes in air fryer, or until edges begin to brown. If taquitos are frozen, increase cooking time by about 5 minutes.

** Note: If you choose to freeze these taquitos, place baking sheet into freezer at this point. When taquitos are frozen, remove pan from freezer and place taquitos into a freezer-safe bag.

Amelia Plair is a Starkville resident who writes occasional food columns.