I’m sitting here, chowing down on my favorite twist of a classic dish. I call it Garlic and Cheese Pasta. It smells like garlic bread and tastes like fancy cuisine. Table for one, please!
Oh, you’d like to join? Table for two, then!
Today, the chef is preparing a meal on a budget…that tastes like a night out to an $80-entrée restaurant. Mac and cheese with flair.
I discovered this accidental masterpiece when I was looking for anything in my cupboard to suffice for dinner, one night, and found a box of mac and cheese with a rock-hard, expired cheese packet. …It might have been over a year old. So, it was either plain noodles, (which, at that point, I had come to terms with), or… wait! What adds flavor to anything and which I’ve probably got in my cabinet, aside of just salt and butter? Garlic. Ding ding!
And that was a winner winner no-chicken dinner! Ever since then, I’ve actually craved it. And it for real tasted like going out to a fancy diner on the beach. Seriously. Now I make garlic pasta all the time, on purpose. It’s even kind of a treat.
“Now wait.” You say, “I thought this was Garlic and Cheese Pasta? What happened to the cheese?”
Well, when your cheese packet isn’t expired, add it into the mix. That’s two different meals for the price of one!
Forage on, friend! Sometimes cabinets produce accidentally wonderful cuisine. And share your favorite #mealonabudget below 🙂
Happy munching!
“Waiter! Check please. My compliments to the chef.” 😉
Specs:
Box mac n’ cheese (I use Annie’s)
Butter, to taste (I use a little extra than for regular mac n’ cheese)
Salt, to taste
Garlic, to taste
Your receipt:
$1.39
If you forgot to go shopping for the basics:
Butter……………….$4.00 for 8-16oz.
Salt…………………..$0.60-$5.00 (or those two salt packets from that takeout place that’s hiding in your utensil drawer……Free!)
Garlic powder………………$1.19-$2.19
Box mac n’ cheese……$0.99-$1.39
There you have it! A fancy meal on a tight budget. Join me again at Café Budgét (read kind of like “bougie” 😉). Savings never tasted so good 🤑
Image courtesy of responsivemoney.com
Popp!nTalk 