Smug in the kitchen

I got home tonight at around 1230 and at around 115, having been on the phone with carley for a half hour or so realized I was starving. so I went to the kitchen, craving pasta and realized I had NOOOOOOOO sauce. None. i had the big cans of crushed tomatoes, which I can and do make into sauce but that is a lot of sauce which leaves me either eating pasta for DAYS, freezing it, or more likely, calling up someone (usually leah) and being like, come over I'm cooking. She's handy! Takes leftovers home too.
But that wasn't but I wanted, i wanted quick, decadent and easy. So..... Alfredo it is. This was totally a lazy ladies alfredo but it tasted delicious! I cooked pasta and brocoli in the same pot (I know i probably overcooked the broccoli but in pasta I like it really well cooked) Then I sauteed 3 cloves of garlic in about a 1/4 cup of margarine (the cheapest non-hydrogenated I could get) added a handful of flour to make a roux. Then I put cream (maybe... 1/4 cup) and stirred it. I kept adding water a little at a time until it was the perfect thickness. You could probably also use just milk but I didn't have any. Then I tossed it all together in the pan and presto! Two meals! And HERE's the best part!!! (warning: cheapness ahead)

pasta: 1/4 of a box on sale for $1 = $0.25
garlic 1/4 head @ $0.99/3 heads = $0.07
margarine: almost shouldn't count but let's say $0.25
cream: 1/4 cup out of 500ml container: $0.25
broccoli: maaaaybe $0.40 (probably way less but I can't remember how much I paid for the bag of frozen)
salt & pepper : negligible

for a grand total of.... $1.22 for TWO servings of really tasty pasta. And from the moment I started cooking until the moment I sat down to eat was less than 20 minutes.

So. Much. Win. After I was done making it I googled fettucine alfredo recipes and while some use slightly fancier ingredients the basic idea is the same. And a lot of people in the comments are like "oh wow, that looks SO good, I'll have to make it for a special meal" But that's the thing. Stuff like this, when you understand the basics of cooking, isn't a special meal thing. You can eat wonderfully ALL the time if you just take the time to educate yourself, and also have basics on hand.

I am so glad that I know what I'm doing in the kitchen. It's one of the things that I do for myself that makes me happy. If a little chubby... And for dessert...