UltimateMama has an easy, comfort food style recipe that all will enjoy for dinner tonight. Best of all it takes less than 20 minutes to make!

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

4-6 ounces thinly diced prosciutto

4 gloves garlic

1 1/4 cups frozen organic peas (thaw before use)

Dash of crushed red pepper flakes (or more for taste)

1 pound Mafalde pasta

1/2-3/4 cup pasta water

To do:

Cook the pasta as directed. Keep 1/2-3/4 cup of pasta water for “sauce”.

In a big skillet heat the olive oil and add the diced prosciutto until crisp. Remove and place on a place (draining the oil).

Chop the garlic finely, add to the olive oil in the skillet, and cook for a few minutes.

Add the peas to the skillet as well as the crushed red pepper flakes.

Add the pasta to the skillet, using tongs.

Add 1 cup of the cheese to the pasta in the skillet then 1/3 cup of the pasta water and mix to form a sauce.

Finish adding the remainder of the cheese as well as the pasta water until desired consistency and creaminess is achieved.

Place in a large pasta bowl or platter.

Top with crisped prosciutto and a bit of crushed red pepper flakes for color.

Enjoy!

UltimateMama’s kids enjoy whipping up fresh tomato mozzarella bites in a flash.  These quick, easy to make appetizers are beautiful on any dining table.

What you need:

1 pound container of Campari tomatoes

Small container of pearl or cherry size fresh mozzarella balls

4 clean, washed basil leaves

Drizzle (1 tablespoon) extra virgin olive oil

To assemble:

Cut the tomatoes in half.

Use a melon baller to scoop out the inside of tomatoes and discard.

Place a mozzarella ball inside of each tomato “shell”.

Drizzle with olive oil.

Garnish with basil (or you can thinly slice the basil leaves and place in each one).

Enjoy!

UltimateMama’s kids love her delicious (and easy to prepare) Italian bread with Nutella Crepes for breakfast. To do:

-Cut off the crusts of 4 slices of Italian bread and roll each slice a few times to stretch it out

-Spread some Nutella on each slice and add thin strawberries

-Roll up the bread

-Crack one egg and beat with a fork

-Dip the rolled up bread in the egg on all sides

-Cook it on a frying pan over low to medium heat

-Repeat with the other 3 slices of bread

-Remove from heat and sprinkle with cinnamon & sugar (or just brown sugar)

-Enjoy!

UltimateMama had her kids create a weekend brunch that was healthy and tasty. They opted for bagels and lox with many creative accompaniments.

-Set out your favorite bagels (kids love Tal Bagels in NYC) and slather on some cream cheese

-Place lox on a separate plate

-Dice some cucumbers and tomatoes and place in bowls next to a bowl of carrots to snack on as well

UlimateMama and her kids whipped up a quick, delicious banana bread this morning that delighted all who sampled the end result (our family of 4).  The recipe:

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas (mashed)

1 cup white granulated sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup butter (melted)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 pinch salt

To do:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Grease a 9×5 loaf pan.

Combine bananas, sugar, egg, and butter in a bowl. Mix flour and baking soda in another bowl. Stir into banana mixture gently. Pinch a little salt into the mixture. Pour batter in to prepared loaf pan. Bake in oven about 50 minutes (test at 45 minute mark to see if toothpick is clean)!

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).

UltimateMama and her kids love to make colorful fruit pops all year round.  UltimateMama’s three ingredient ice pops are simple and healthy. Here’s how you make this simple recipe for kids:

2 cups of cleaned and strained raspberries (or strawberries)

4 kiwi (peeled and cut into cubes)

1 cup of orange juice, you can add more if needed (or pineapple juice)

Puree all of the fruit and place into three separate bowls.  Fill your popsicle containers with the pureed raspberries by carefully pouring the fruit into the mold then freeze for about 45 to 60 minutes.  Pour the pureed kiwi on top and freeze for another 45 to 60 minutes.  Top off with the orange juice then cover with the popsicle lid/sticks and freeze until solid.  Remove and enjoy your 4 fruit pops!

UltimateMama tries her best to use any dinner leftovers for lunch the next day. That way she can spend more quality time building sandcastles in the summertime with her kids! A nutritious and easy lunch with last night’s grilled chicken and vegetables (roasted red peppers, green peppers, and onions) was UltimateMama’s delicious open faced avocado toast!  To make:

– Toast 2 slices of thinly sliced wheat bread

– Place sliced avocado on the toast

– Top with roasted vegetables and grilled chicken

UltimateMama likes to serve it with blueberries, peppers, cucumbers, and a few chips on the side!

UltimateMama and her children love making Ultimate Star Scones!  It is a quick and easy way to incorporate MATH (measuring) skills into your daily routine — not to mention fun and delicious.  It is as easy as this:

Ingredients

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon of baking powder

2 teaspoons of granulated pure cane sugar (plus another teaspoon for the topping)

3/4 cup of dried raspberries

1 cup of heavy cream (plus another teaspoon for topping)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and sugar (2 teaspoons).

Next, add the dried raspberries.

Then, add the heavy cream (1 cup).

Form the dough into a large ball with your hands.

Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface (use a rolling pin).  Dough should be about 3/4 inch thick.

Using a star shaped cookie cutter (or any other shape you fancy) cut the shapes in dough and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet.

When you have used all the dough up it is time for the topping.

For the topping use a pastry brush and paint the tops of the star shaped scones with the heavy cream.  Use your fingers and sprinkle sugar on top of each scone.

Put the stars in the oven to bake (about 8-11 minutes).

Serve warm (or at room temperature) either plain, with raspberry jam, or whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Depending on the size of your cookie cutter it makes around 10-12 scones.