UltimateMama and her kids love making and serving these super easy prosciutto and salami wrapped mozzarella sticks.  Guests can pick them up with no mess, plus they can be made in advance of your gathering.

To make:

8 ounces of whole milk Mozzarella cheese (chunk or “brick” loaf style so it can be easily cut)

4 ounces of sliced prosciutto

4 ounces of sliced salami

Prepare mozzarella cheese by cutting into 4 inch long, 1/2 inch thick pieces

Roll either the prosciutto or salami around the cheese

Repeat until all ingredients are done

Serve and enjoy! (adding pitted olives and stuffed grape leaves is a nice bonus for friends)

UltimateMama saw the sun for the first time in a week a few days ago so she started up the grill.  Grilling is a great, easy way to break away from your standard spring dinner routine and get a “taste” of summer. To do:

-Marinate chicken breasts all day in Italian dressing (Ken’s Zesty Italian dressing is a family favorite) and grill them to your liking (1 pound)

-Prepare ground beef (we prefer 80% lean/20% fat) with seasonings such as pepper and garlic (or onion) into mini-hamburgers or sliders and grill to perfection (1 pound)

-Grill 4-6 pieces of corn (serve with butter)

-Grill the slider rolls just a quick bit

-Make a quick romaine salad for a side dish using the extra Italian dressing

-Serve and enjoy

UltimateMama will admit that in the past her children were less than enthusiastic about eating a wide variety of fruit in the morning madness rush of breakfast.  After years of washing fruit and placing it into individual, colorful bowls on the breakfast table, UltimateMama realized that much of it was going to waste.  The children were only eating a strawberry here or a blueberry there.  Not exactly a healthy, well-balanced start to the day.

A thought occurred to her–the real trick to make eating fruit fun at any age is PRESENTATION!  UltimateMama realized that placing the already washed, cut, and prepared fruit into colorful, elegant glass trifle bowls created a fancy, holiday feel to the breakfast table.  UltimateMama’s children couldn’t stop smiling….and eating!

UltimateMama and her girls can’t resist thinking back to their trip to Spain a few years ago and longing for the excitement of Barcelona.  Since flying to Europe was out of the question last weekend, UltimateMama decided to do the next best thing–make paella with her girls for Friday night dinner. Using a brilliant Matiz paella rice recipe, the girls made an out of this world seafood paella! The one catch–make sure you have saffron on hand–expensive but worth it.

Matiz Seafood Paella recipe:

Heat 8 cups of fish or chicken broth with 1 teaspoon of saffron (we used a bit more) in a pot.  In a separate (very) large pan, heat 1/2 cup of olive oil over medium heat.  Add 1-2 medium sized diced onions to the oil and fry until translucent (6 minutes, approximately). Add 1 chopped red bell pepper and 1 chopped orange-yellow bell pepper and cook for about 5 minutes. Add 16 oz diced artichokes (canned), 28 oz diced tomatoes (canned), and 4 cloves of diced garlic — simmer for 5 minutes.  Pour in 4 cups of Matiz Paella rice and stir until the rice is fully covered with the sofrito tomato mixture.

Carefully add the broth to the paella. Gently move the rice mixture around until evenly distributed. Do not “stir” the rice after this part.

After 10 minutes place your fresh seafood (white fish, uncooked shrimp without the shells, mussels, clams, etc.) into the mixture one by one and evenly distribute the seafood. After about 10 minutes add piquillo pepper to garnish and add color. In another 15 minutes or so the water should be completely absorbed and you can remove from heat. Cover with foil and let sit for 10 minutes before serving. You can serve it directly from the pan (add wedges of lemon or lime if you want to impress).