A Broke Girl and Her Spaghetti

As I left work this evening, I prayed aloud in the car "LORD, please let me find some spaghetti noodles in the back of the pantry". I was serious. I have been craving spaghetti ever since I got the movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for Christmas, and had not been able to satisfy this carbohydrate craving yet.

Why? Well...payday isn't until tomorrow and being the financial wizard that I am (HA) I have overstretched my account, and I only have exactly enough to ensure my account won't go into the negative. Oh rest assured, I'm not starving by any means, in fact, if I'm to go by what the mirror tells me every morning as I exit the shower, I could stand to skip a few meals, anyway, I digress. I have exactly all the odds and ends in my fridge and pantry that under normal circumstances amount to absolutely nothing meal-wise, but in overstretched bank account circumstances amount to a lot.

Miracle of miracles! In my pasta storage container there were SPAGHETTI NOODLES!!

A friend at work was just telling me about a new way she seasoned her noodles, and not having anything but one 8 ounce can of plain 'ol tomato sauce for flavor, I decided to give it a try. Anyone else love the way fresh garlic smells as it sizzles in the skillet? Mmmm. I let the garlic saute in the oil for a few minutes and then added the cooked noodles. I added some more garlic and gave it a taste test. Bland. This situation called for some salt. And Basil. Mmm, definitely gettin' somewhere now, but it still needed something. Ahh! What is pasta without cheese?! I decided against cheddar and went with the rich, smoky provolone instead. Divinity in and of itself. At this point, however, because I had only ripped up the provolone slice into pieces and let it melt over the noodles, I had clumps of cheese stuck to only a few sections of the noodles. LoL. I pulled the cheese/noodle clumps apart with two forks and did another taste...it could use more provolone. This time, however, I got smart and melted the cheese in the microwave first( and added a little milk) and Voila!  A delicious cheese sauce to pour over the noodles. I poured the cheese and then added half of the can of tomato sauce. Zeee pastaaa was ready!

Now, anyone who knows anything about food knows that you can't eat pasta without bread! Unfortunately, all I had was a loaf of wheat bread. Even though this feels like the end of the world, I assure you it's not. When you're bank account challenged, food improvisation is KEY.  I'll let you in on a little secret. Take a slice of the bread, and cut it in half. Warm up another skillet and put a light layer of olive oil in the bottom. When the skillet is hot, add the bread. When it's browned on one side, turn it over. Now, I usually put it on a paper towel to let some of the oil soak out, but that's just me. Lastly, rub each side of the bread with a piece of garlic that you have sliced in half aaaannndddd......PRESTO! You have garlic Texas toast!

How did it all taste? Like the nectar of the gods. Or maybe I was just really hungry and needed a carb fix(which I got). So now, I'm sitting back, legs propped up and belly poked out, and completely satisfied. Anyone have any ideas for dessert?

The Finished Product