Super Easy Alfredo Sauce

This stuff is super easy and WAY better than the stuff in the jar, in my opinion. Adapted from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

1 (4 ounce) package cream cheese

1 teaspoons garlic powder

1 cups milk

3 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

dash ground black pepper

dash nutmeg (optional)

3 T chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Directions:

- Melt butter in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat.

- Add cream cheese and garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth.

- Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps.

- Stir in Parmesan, pepper, and nutmeg.

- Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency. Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long.

- Top with parsley and serve over hot pasta.

Tips & Tricks:

- I didn't have parmesan, so I used shredded mozzarella. The flavor was definitely milder, but it was still really good. I also added 1/2 tsp. of salt to pick up the flavor a little bit (which I probably would not do with the parmesan).

- The original recipe serves 8 at LEAST. The amounts above are cutting the recipe in half.

- I used low-fat cream cheese and 1% milk, and it was creamy as EVER. Still probably not healthy, but way better than the original. I bet you could use no-fat cream cheese and skim milk, and still get a super creamy and delicious sauce.

- I threw in some steamed broccoli at the end when I tossed it with the pasta (yum). I bet it would be good with chicken and/or mushrooms, too.