What to do with instant oatmeal?

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What's cooking What's for Leftovers readers?  This has been a great spring break week, but since we've been so busy, I haven't actually been doing a lot of cooking.  The other day I did make peanut butter cookies for our Community Group.  We did not bring a single one home, so I think everybody liked them.  For breakfast that morning, I had fed Celia and Charlie instant oatmeal.  This was my first time preparing it, but it is like a gold mine.  It is so easy to make and they loved it!  Well, I made Celia's great, but I think I got distracted with Charlie's and did something wrong (I know you're asking yourself, who messes up instant oatmeal!?).  To thicken it up, I had to open another packet.  Instead of making a huge amount of instant oatmeal, I saved the rest of it and added it to the peanut butter cookies.  According to Belinda, it made the cookies look healthy :)

Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
1 Cup Peanut Butter
2 Eggs
3/4 Cup Pecan Meal (Finely chop pecans in your food processor if you don't have pecan meal)
3/4 Cup Honey
2 TBSP Instant Oatmeal (You can add a whole packet if you don't have one open already)
1 TBSP Baking Powder
1/4 Cup Flour
M&M's (Optional)
Powdered Sugar (Optional)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2.  In a large mixing bowl, mix together peanut butter, eggs, pecan meal, honey, instant oatmeal, baking powder and flour until dough forms into a large lump.
3. Place dough in freezer for fifteen minutes.
4. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.  Take cookie dough out and roll into small balls.  Place several M&Ms on top of balls (optional).  Put remaining dough back in freezer.
5.  Bake in oven for 11 to 13 minutes.  Cookies are finished when they puff up and start to turn light brown.  Take out of oven, sprinkle with powder sugar (optional) and let cool.  Repeat until dough is finished.

**Makes 2 and 1/2 dozen cookies** 

What to do with leftover mashed sweet potatoes?

Good evening What's for Leftovers readers!  We have had a whirlwind weekend, traveling to visit Andy's family.  As always, we had a great time hanging out with all our loved ones.  Lucky for us, that side of Missouri got 6 to 8 inches of snow.  It was beautiful!  Hopefully it's the last snow of the season since it's officially Spring.  I am ready for flip flops and tank tops!  Since it was so chilly this weekend, we ate a lot of cozy, comfort foods.  For dinner on Friday, I prepared mashed sweet potatoes and acorn squash.  We ate all of it, except a cup and a half.  On Saturday morning, I took the leftovers and created muffins.  They were fabulous, very moist and flavorful.  In fact, I had to hide the two in the picture in the freezer to keep them from being eaten by all the little ones in the house. 

Sweet Potato Muffins
Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cups Mashed Sweet Potatoes
2 Eggs
1/2 Stick Butter- Softened
1/2 Cups White Sugar
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Vanilla
1 TBSP Baking Powder
1 1/2 Cups Flour
Cinnamon and Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together sweet potatoes, eggs and butter until creamy and smooth.  Next, add white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and baking powder.  Mix until smooth.
3. Slowly add flour, mixing it in as you pour.
4. Line muffin tins with paper liners.  Pour batter into muffin cups, filling them 3/4 of the way full.
5. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with cinnamon and sugar.  Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.  Makes 12 to 18 muffins.