Sometimes you don’t have enough time to make dinner. Okay, who am I kidding, we’re in college. You never have enough time to make dinner. You’re at class most of the day and as soon as you get home there’s homework and studying to do and meetings and clubs and exercise and you can just forget about sleep. Having enough time to look up a recipe, assemble ingredients, and cook a whole dinner? Dream on, space cowboy.

Well, I have a miracle-worker for you: the crock pot (sometimes called the slow cooker). Invest in one, seriously. They make everything five times more delicious because all your ingredients get a chance to marinate together for hours, and they’re so easy to use because all you do is dump everything into one pot and let it cook.

Whip up a batch of these crock pot chicken enchiladas on Sunday night and…viola! Dinner for the whole week. Here’s my Sunday-night creation:

Today’s recipe comes to us courtesy of Pinch of Yum. I didn’t include the cilantro, crema or Cotija cheese, mostly because I didn’t have them on hand. If you make this, I strongly suggest you use them because…well, with cheese and cilantro, things only get better. I had trouble rolling up the corn tortillas, meaning I didn’t really roll them up at all and they kind of broke into a million pieces. If you want to go for it, make sure you heat them up with a wet towel in the microwave, don’t over-fill them, and be very careful. Otherwise, you’ll end up with enchilada casserole (still delicious).

Skinny Chicken Enchiladas

1 lb. chicken breasts

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can corn, drained

1 jar salsa

1 packet taco seasoning

1/4 cup water

12 small corn tortillas

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 avocado, diced

1/4 cup crema

fresh cilantro, Cotija cheese for topping

1. Put the first 6 ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on high for 3 hours, or until chicken is cooked through. You can cut the chicken breasts in half to speed up the cooking time. Use 2 forks to shred the chicken and mix everything together.

2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Soften the tortillas in the microwave, 3 at a time. Fill them with a few tablespoons of filling, roll once, and place them seam side down in a large casserole or baking dish. 

3. Sprinkle evenly with cheddar cheese and bake 15-20 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

4. Remove from oven and drizzle with crema. Sprinkle with avocado pieces, fresh cilantro, and Cotija cheese crumbles