Cilantro Lime Chicken Shishkabobs {Freezer Meal}

A sure sign that Spring is here in Michigan is when I get a sunburn. LOL.  I know it's ridiculous but after I get my first sunburn, I'm finally confident that I can remove the ice scraper from my car.  Anyway, what a better way to celebrate spring, then to make some delicious kabobs.

You know what's crazy --- this isn't only a grilling recipe but a FREEZER MEAL. 
Yes, you read that right - a freezer meal.  Many would say "kabobs or grilling food is easy.  Why do you need to make it into a freezer meal?"  Yeah, they must not have 2 nature loving kids - because every grilling recipe I've read says it requires at least 30 minutes of marinade (not to mention the planning and grocery shopping).  That's a lot of lead time when you don't get home with the kids until 5 pm.  

Plus when you set a rule in your house that you don't get to watch TV until the sun goes down(which isn't a hard rule to enforce right now) AND you have 2 young boys who need to be supervised --- prepping in the kitchen isn't an option.  So when you can simply pull out a bag from the freezer, and the only prep before grilling is putting them on the metal kabobs.... you have a winner!

Also, the veggies are a freezer meal too! I simply chopped them up (into larger than a single bite size) put them in a small freezer safe sandwich Ziplock bag and put them in the freezer.  I pulled them out the night before.  Added 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and taco seasoning (to go with the Mexican flavored chicken kabobs) and grilled them next to the kabobs.  The vegetables were still a bit frozen so it took longer to grill the veggies than the chicken kabobs!

Results:
So we've had this chicken before actually, it's a slow cooker meal - that I may or may not have posted yet.  However, neither of us were too impressed by that recipe.  HOWEVER, these kabobs - are packed full of flavor.  OH MY.  I fortunately grilled them perfectly too - so they weren't too dry but cooked through.

Notes:
It's ok to defrost in the microwave if they didn't thaw enough overnight.  I had my microwave defrost as if it was 1/2 pound of meat.  Grilling just meat kabobs worked.

THESE WOULD BE GREAT FOR CAMPING.



Ingredients:

• 1-2 lbs of chicken breast, cut into 1" squares
• 1/4 bunch of cilantro (for every 1 # chicken), minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced (or 1 teaspoon of minced garlic)
• juice from 1 lime (or 4 Tablespoons of lime juice; since I was doing freezer I bought the small lime containers)
• salt and pepper
• 2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 3 - 4 metal skewers (depending on the size you will need at least 2)

 Same day prep:

Prepare the chicken, cilantro, garlic as listed in ingredients. Mix all ingredients into a ziplock bag, let it marinade for at least 30 minutes(the longer the better).  Preheat the grill to about 350°f to 400°f. Add the chicken to skewers and grill for about 4 minutes on each side or until chicken hits 165°f.  They are smaller pieces so it cooks faster.


Freezer meal prep:

Label a 1 gallon freezer safe bag with "Cilantro Lime Chicken Shishkabob". Prepare the chicken, cilantro, garlic as listed in ingredients. Add all the ingredients into the bag and rub the ingredients around until chicken is covered.  Squeeze the air of the bag, and zip tight.

Place in freezer for up to 3 months (or longer if you want).

Pull the bag out the night before and place in refrigerator. If you forget too, no worries just defrost it in the microwave until the chicken pieces can separate but don't cook through.

Preheat the grill to about 350°f to 400°f. Add the chicken to skewers and grill for about 4 minutes on each side or until chicken hits 165°f.  They are smaller pieces so it cooks faster.

Enjoy!