Homemade Alfredo Sauce and Pasta

3 tbsp unsalted butter
3tbsp flour
1 1/4 c milk (I use skim)
pepper and salt to taste
1/4 tsp onion powder or to taste
1/4 tsp garlic powder or to taste
1/2 c Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 lb pasta of choice (I use was I have on hand sometimes spaghetti, sometimes linguine)

Heat to boiling a large pot to cook the pasta in. Add salt to taste. When the water is boiling and you have added the pasta and gotten that going, melt butter over med-med/high heat in a med size skillet. Add the flour to make a roue (sp?)  cook until light brown and the flour taste has been cooked out. Add the seasonings, salt pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. stir to combine. Slowly add the milk while whisking the mixture and allowing all the lumps to disappear. Cook the sauce about a minute more until it thickens, then add the Parmesan cheese, stirring until it melts. If the sauce is too thick, I use some of the pasta water to thin it a bit, but go easy. When the pasta is cooked add it directly from the pot into the sauce , don't shake too much of the pasta water off. Use a fork and spoon to mix the sauce with the pasta. I serve this warm with the canned parm that is basically hated in the culinary world, but my family likes it and rarely uses it for anything so we shake some on top of this and everyone eats it up. Can be easily pared with just about any side you can think of. I would go with a quick salad to make this super quick and some garlic bread sure couldn't hurt right?

Note: you can also double this recipe (minus the pasta) and use it to sub into stuff that calls for a jar of alfredo, I bet this is WAY healthier than the store brands!