Keeping on with the pasta theme, keep a couple of mushroom soup cans in your cupboard pantry for this very reason.
Cook some pasta, and drain the water a good minute before the pasta is cooked. To that pan add a tin of mushroom soup and season with pepper. You end up with a creamy mushroom pasta. Top it off with any garnish, including cheese or herbs of your choice. It takes as much time as it would to cook the pasta.
I remember in 1996, going to a tiny computer shop and picking up a 14k modem for about 30 pounds. He handed me an AOL cd rom and within 20 minutes I was on the web. I will always remember those of beeps and squeaks as the modem connected.