So Simple Pasta Salad

Here's a typical lunchtime in my household:

I get the girls their lunch. I sit with them and nurse the baby while they eat. I have my own plate of food. They crawl down off the stools and attempt to run around. Still nursing the baby, I chase them down and haul them to Time Out. During the chase, the baby quits nursing and cries in anger and frustration that his lunch has been interrupted. During the girls' four-and two minutes (respectively) in Time Out, I re-latch the baby and eat a bite of my own lunch, (hopefully using a utensil other than my fingers) while standing at the counter. Time Out is over and the girls crawl up on their stools. They finish their lunch. They take their dishes to the sink. I send them back to their rooms to play. Still holding my 22-pound, 29-inch-long baby in one arm, horizontally while he nurses, I stand at the counter and take another bite of my lunch (hopefully using a utensil other than my fingers). Screaming starts at the back of the house and gets louder as it comes closer and closer. Darling races into the kitchen pushing a pink doll stroller, looking behind her and laughing, while Doodlebug chases her, screaming, "My sthtwower! No my sthtwower! My! Myyyyyyyy!" They run around the island a few times. The baby, who was almost asleep, unlatches and cranes his head back, eyes wide, to see what has interrupted his lunch, again. I take another bite of my own lunch (hopefully using a utensil other than my fingers) and chase down the girls, boob flapping every which way until I re-snap my nursing bra. Let's hope the postman doesn't drive by, as all the blind are wide open. My lunch is left on the counter, forgotten until three hours later, when I return. Hungry, I attempt a quick algebraic equation in my head to determine how many times the germs in my food have multiplied while my lunch sat at room temperature. Unable to complete the equation, I just decide to risk it and take a few bites (hopefully using a utensil other than my fingers). Germs build immunity.

If this sounds like just another day at your house, then you need quick, easy to prepare recipes like I do. Here is a pasta salad that is simple to throw together (the hardest part is cooking the pasta!), is excellent hot or cold, is mighty tasty and is excellent leftover. It can be a side dish or a main course. And, as an added bonus, it can be eaten with your fingers if need be, without too much mess.

So Simple Pasta Salad

1 box rotini pasta, cooked according to package instructions and drained (or other shape, although I like spirals because it holds the sauce so well)
1 jar prepared pesto (I use the Classico brand)
1 wedge (big or little as you like) sharp provolone cheese, cut into small cubes
1 cooked ham steak, cut into small cubes
1/2 jar pitted katamala olives, sliced (or whole if you prefer) 

Dump all ingredients into a large bowl. Stir. Eat. Enjoy.

Additions that would be delicious:
marinated artichoke hearts
heart of palm
sundried tomatoes