Crab Alfredo

 Tonight for dinner I made a request from my oldest daughter.  Tomorrow is her birthday and in this house when it is your birthday you get to pick what you eat for dinner. Since the closest Red Lobster to out home is over 2 hours away going there was a little out of the question...but copying their Crab Alfredo was not out of the question.  I looked up several copy cat recipes on the Internet and took a little from one and a little from another and put my own spin on things.  You can find copy cat recipes here. I will say that I am in love with the Alfredo sauce I made and will use this base again for chicken or shrimp or other meats....however it is NOT low fat so be prepared for a few calories.  Since this was a birthday celebration we didn't even think about that tonight!

 

Crab Alfredo

1/2 C. Unsalted Butter

1 T. Minced Garlic

4 oz. Cream Cheese

1 pint Half and Half

5 oz. Grated Parmesan Cheese

1 lb - 1 1/2 lbs Crab Meat

salt and pepper 

1 lb Pasta

 

The first thing I did was start my pasta boiling.  I used Linguine tonight per my daughter's request, but you can use Fettuccine

or even a Penne would be good.

In a large skillet melt your butter with your minced garlic

then add the cream cheese.

Once the cheese is melted it will look like it has separated...maybe slightly curdled looking.  Don't worry as this will become very smooth after you stir in the half and half then add the Parmesan cheese.  Don't use the shake cheese you put on pasta - but buy a good hard Parmesan already grated or grate it yourself.  Once that cheese is melted add your chopped crab.  I did use imitation and it tasted fine - but if you can afford it use real crab.

Once the pasta is done cooking toss it with your sauce.

I served this tonight with a green salad and some garlic toast.

Now since this was my daughter's birthday dinner she requested a trip to Dairy Queen instead of cake and since we were not counting calories at all tonight we filled up on ice cream after this not so low fat meal!  I had a  French Silk Pie Blizzard while Helen had a Chocolate Extreme Blizzard. Erick and Brenna had chocolate dipped cones

and Shelby had a cherry dipped cone.

We had a good night and the cost was much less than if we were to go out to Red Lobster....2 hours away.  And since this blog is about affordable meals I will break down the cost for you.  I fed a family of 5 with generous leftovers.  Because I used imitation crab instead of real crab I cut down on the cost quite a bit.  Here is the break down. 

Salad = 3.58

Garlic Toast = 1.88

Crab Alfredo = 10.73

Dairy Queen = 12.25

Total for the night = 28.44

That's a whole night of delicious food, family fun and leftovers for under $30.00!