A lot of the pasta meals that I make (eg Lipton/Knorr sides) will cook up OK without butter (it helps that you are hungry though). For those that don't, I substitute olive oil. Butter will quickly turn rancid without refrigeration; olive oil will keep just fine if kept in a food grade bottle. I suspect that the KFC packets are margarine, BTW, with a significant content of trans-fats.
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May I walk in beauty.