I joined in with the millions of other people in looking up at the sky last night. By the time I realized that the moon was already up, I almost missed it! 

I snapped a few of the Blood Moon and left my camera set up and waited until the total eclipse was over and then took a few of the Super Moon. 

This was my first attempt at photographing the moon and let me tell you it wasn't easy, and I know they aren't perfect! Good thing I have a few years to practice and mess with my settings before the next one in 2033! Happy Monday everyone! Did you look up at the night sky last night?

Mini Pumpkin Pies

It's officially the first day of fall! 

To keep up with tradition, here's another yummy pumpkin recipe for the blog! 

Mini Pumpkin Pies.

I saw this delicious recipe on my Facebook feed a couple weeks ago and I saved it to my page so I could make sure and find it later. Here's the original link that I saved, Mini Muffin Tin Pumpkin Pies by makeandtakes.com. One thing that we learned from making this is that it definitely doesn't need to bake as long as the original recipe calls for.

My mom and I actually whipped these up yesterday afternoon and they were so cute and yummy! Add a little whipped cream and you have yourself the perfect mini dessert for fall. 

Click here to get my recipe for homemade pie crust.

Or if you want you can use pre-made pie crust.

INGREDIENTS: 

• 1 cup Canned Pumpkin Puree 
• 8oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature 
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract 
• 3 Eggs 
• 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice 
• 1/2 cup Sugar 

DIRECTIONS: 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
2. Mix sugar, pumpkin, vanilla, eggs, cream cheese & pumpkin spice until smooth. 
3. Roll out dough. Using a bowl or 4 inch round cookie cutter, cut out 12 circles from your two 9-inch pie crust doughs. 
4. Place each circle into a pre-greased muffin tin. Press them in and let the sides come up over the edge. Score the bottom of your dough with a fork to keep the crust from bubbling up as it cooks. 
5. Pour your filling into each muffin tin cup. Fill them to the very top. 
6. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Then turn your heat down to 350 degrees and bake them for 12-15 minutes. 
7. Let these cool on a wire rack for a couple of hours to let the pumpkin filling set. 

Add a dollop of whipped cream if desired, and enjoy :)

Quick Little Mountain Getaway

We decided to squeeze in a quick little getaway to the mountains last week. We spent Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in a great little campground surround by beautiful pine trees and pretty little aspen trees that were all changing colors for the fall. 

We hiked, went to a secluded hot springs, and spent cool evenings around the campfire.

We soaked up some glorious mountain air and sunshine. The blue skies were so pretty.

We found an amazing, little privately owned, garden alongside the lake that was just bursting with flowers and beauty. It was so serene and peaceful.

We spent some time at the lake, watching the birds and taking in the sites. My hubby went on a ride in the razor to the top of the mountain ridge and had an awesome view of the valley. 

I love where we live and that we can drive a few hours in any direction and it feels like we're really getting away. Idaho is so beautiful and the drive up towards the McCall/Donnelly area is just awesome! The Payette river and the pine trees and mountains are just glorious! Here's a few of the photos I took this last weekend while walking around exploring. 

Chicken & White Cheese Lasagna

Warm cheesy layers of pasta, garlicky sauce and moist chicken...is your mouth watering yet? 
This is comfort food at its finest.

This Chicken & White Cheese Lasagna is such a delicious dish and can easily be assembled the day before you need it, refrigerated, and then baked the next day. It is bursting with flavor and don't be surprised if people ask for seconds. 

Mozzarella, Parmesan, ricotta cheese, and a homemade cheese sauce is what takes this dish right over the cheesy top. There's some spinach hidden in there too, just to make you feel not quite as guilty lol. 

Serve this with a piece of garlic bread and a big green salad and you'll have a delicious dinner, plus your house will smell amazing!

I was inspired by a recipe I found on Pinterest. I made it and decided it needed a little more flavor. So now I punched up the flavor to make it my own. Here's the original recipe link I pinned.

Here is my recipe for 
Chicken & White Cheese Lasagna 

Here's everything you'll need:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook noodles for about 8 minutes. 

Drain, separate, and sit aside.

Melt 1 cube of butter in a medium pan over medium heat.

Add onions & garlic to butter and simmer until tender, stirring occasionally.

Add salt and flour and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add chicken broth and half & half, bring to a boil, add in Italian seasoning, basil, oregano, parsley and black pepper, stir constantly and simmer 2 minutes or until smooth.

Remove from heat and stir in 2 cups of mozzarella and 1 cup Parmesan.

Spread 1/3 of the cheese sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.

Layer 3-4 noodles on top of the sauce, then 1 cup shredded chicken, 1 cup ricotta, 3 oz spinach, 1/3 of the mozzarella and Parmesan. Add 3-4 more noodles followed by another 1/3 of the cheese sauce, then rest of the shredded chicken, ricotta and spinach, 1/3 of the mozzarella and Parmesan.

Add the rest of the noodles and the rest of the sauce and cheese.

Sprinkle with a little parsley and bake for 30-40 mints in a preheated 350 degree oven. 

Remove from oven and let it stand about 5 minutes. 

Cut, serve and enjoy :)

Ingredients:

• 9-12 lasagna noodles, boiled and drained
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 whole medium onion, chopped (I used a purple onion)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chicken broth (one 15oz can)
• 1 3/4 cups half & half
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 teaspoon each, Italian seasoning, dried basil, dried oregano & dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken)
• 6 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained well

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook noodles for about 8 minutes. Drain, separate, and sit aside.
2. In a medium sized pan melt 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) over medium heat and add the onions and garlic, simmer until tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Add salt and flour and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly
4. Add chicken broth and half & half, bring to a boil, add in Italian seasoning, basil, oregano, parsley and black pepper, stir constantly and simmer 2 minutes or until smooth. 
5. Remove from heat and stir in 2 cups of mozzarella and 1 cup Parmesan.
6. Spread 1/3 of the cheese sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
7. Layer 3-4 noodles on top of the sauce, then 1 cup shredded chicken, 1 cup ricotta, 3 oz spinach, 1/3 of the mozzarella and Parmesan.
8. Add 3-4 more noodles followed by another 1/3 of the cheese sauce, then rest of the shredded chicken, ricotta and spinach, 1/3 of the mozzarella and Parmesan.
9. Add the rest of the noodles and the rest of the sauce and cheese.
10. Sprinkle with a little parsley and bake for 30-40 mints in a preheated 350 degree oven.
11. Remove from oven and let it stand about 5 minutes.
12. Cut, serve and enjoy :)

*You can also add red pepper flakes, mushrooms, bacon, bell pepper, zucchini. Make it to your liking :) You can also use, zucchini noodles, rice noodles, corn starch, and low fat milk and cheese to cut back on the carbs, gluten, calories, and fat content.