Memorial Day weekend, I learned my lesson. Never walk into a weekend unprepared. I was coming off of a week of traveling and had not properly planned meals. This left us watching everyone at the pool eating pizzas, drinking sodas and snacking on chips. We were craving everything that’s terrible for you. Then we made the mistake of venturing to the grocery store.

While falling off the healthy diet wagon looks quite different from individual to individual, for us it equates to binging on chips, cashew ice cream, gluten free pizza and cookies. We were not off to a great start after our holiday weekend. I was determined to do better.

The neighborhood pool has opened up for the summer season. We enjoy spending Saturday and Sunday morning soaking up a little Vitamin D. This means I need to plan healthy pool snacks and have lunch ready for when we walk home.

Friday morning, I got the crockpot out and made Chicken Enchilada Chili. As you know, Mexican recipes are full of dairy and I am always on the lookout for tasty alternatives. This recipe called for 8 ounces of cream cheese. I haven’t had cream cheese in years and I wasn’t aware of any dairy free options on the market. During my weekly visit to Earth Fare, I noticed Kite Hill had a few flavors. We love their yogurt so I had a good feeling about their cream cheese.

I picked up the Kite Hill Plain Cream Cheese Style Spread for my chili recipe and the Kite Hill Chive Cream Cheese Style Spread with a few gluten free bagels as a treat for myself. The next morning, after a pretty intense leg workout, I decided to reward myself with a bagel. The chive almond milk cream cheese spread smoothly and the consistency was similar to dairy cream cheese. The spread was packed with flavor but the chives and white pepper were not overpowering! If you are on a Paleo diet, I know this cream cheese would pair well with veggies rather than my Udi’s bagels.

The Chicken Enchilada provided easy meals all weekend long and it was super creamy thanks to Kite Hill’s plain cream cheese! My husband loved this recipe and I am adding it to my rotating meal schedule. We topped the chili off with Kite Hill’s Plain yogurt as our sour cream alternative paired with our favorite guacamole.