Savoring Eliana: Creamy Beef and Pasta

After 6 weeks apart, my sister has finally returned home from Minnesota where she was taking a physics course to complete her double major. Personally, I think she needs to prioritize family of higher education. But then again, I get to use her return home as an excuse to spend time in the kitchen.
While she was away, she stayed on a 5-meal plan. For those of you unfamiliar, that means she is allowed 5 meals a week. 5 meals where most people usually have 21. Luckily, during this time, she was house sitting for a family who told her to that she could eat anything in their kitchen. Previously, she was living on packs of hot cocoa mix and making a pound of pasta last a whole week. Now, she could enjoy cans of sardines and packs of ramen noodles - a feast!
When she told me this, I became intrigued with the idea of scrounging up a meal from whatever was lying around the house. While our cupboards are usually stocked with enough ingredients to make most basic recipes, we certainly did not have everything I wanted so I decided to give it a shot.

I present Scrounger's Feast:

1 lb pasta
3/4 pound stew beef, cubed
1 onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic
4 tbls butter
1 c milk
2 tbls flour
1 tbls garlic powder
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup cheese (Parmesan ideal)
Salt to flavor

Begin by melting 2 tablespoons of butter in a frying pan over medium heat.

Life doesn't get better than melted butter

Mix in the beef and onion and allow to cook until the meat is no longer pink and the onions are caramelized (you may wish to turn down the temperature to allow a slower, more even cook).