I have mentioned this before but our family does not eat meat on Fridays…ANY Friday. If you do the same or even if you just don’t eat meat on Fridays during lent, perhaps you get to the point where you can’t feed your family one more fish stick. So…. I have decided to share my vegetarian or meatless recipes with you, every friday, every week, unless I fall off a cliff or get reeeeeeeally busy. So stay tuned.
Todays recipe is loved by my husband and all the kids. It is super yummy and decadent but not expensive at all. My goal is always to keep a our Friday meals to under $8 (for 10 people!!!!) Other meals such as breakfast and lunch are way cheaper but Fridays are special. I will try to break down the cost of the meal every week, OK? Here we go. (Oh let me apologize for the colors in the pictures, I was cooking at night and the lighting my the kitchen is not the best).
What you will need:
6 tbsp butter (.50)
1 lb of mushrooms sliced (I used baby portabella) $1.99
3 cloves of garlic (.25)
3 tbsp flour (.10)
3 cups milk ( Gallon of milk 128 ounces costs $3.00, 3 cups is 24 ounces = .56)
1 package cream cheese (.99)
1 cup parmesan cheese (really good parmesan cost me $5 for a triangle chunk) I used less than half) $2.00
1 lb of bow tie pasta (.99)
Total $7.38 that is .73 per person for a really good gourmet meal.
Slice your mushrooms and mince your garlic.
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the sliced mushrooms and the garlic minced and cook, stirring until the mushrooms release their liquid and it has evaporated. Sprinkle the flour and mix then slowly add the milk stirring constantly.
Add the cream cheese cut into chunks and stir until all dissolved and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan cheese. Add your salt until you get the taste you want.
Meanwhile, cook your pasta in boiling salted water until tender. Drain your pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve immediately.
If you do not feed a mega family you can half this recipe. If you try it let me know what you think.
Yeah! mushrooms are awesome!
that looks awesome…my boys won't eat the mushrooms, but they know to give them to mama 🙂
Looks wonderful! I just stumbled upon your blog looking for meatless meals on Fridays to share on our blog http://www.sanctussimplicitus. Hope you don't mind me sharing your link!
So cool that you liked it, next time I make it I will double the garlic and see if your flatmates are right
I'm a student living in New Zealand. I found your recipie. I tried it, but on consultation with a few flatmates I doubled the garlic.It was absolutely delicious and very budget-friendly. Thank you so much for putting this online.
Sounds yummy…too bad 2 of my kiddos will have nothing to do with mushrooms;0(We are meatless on Fridays year round as well, so I'm always looking for inexpensive options.