What to do with coconut....

I don't normally buy coconut because I don't like the texture.  I love the taste, I love the smell, but not the texture.  My friend Kimberly gave me an extra bag of it to cook with and it's been sitting in my fridge for awhile, just waiting for inspiration to occur.  Lucky for us, it occurred last week in the form of a dessert recipe.  Growing up, my neighbor Cathy used to make us a dessert called dump cake.  This is a very easy pie/cobbler dessert where you just dump everything into a cake pan and bake.  I took that idea and used the coconut to make a cherry cream cobbler.  It is delicious and very simple to make.  It is a perfect summer dessert: fast, easy, and unforgetable :)

Cherry Cream Cobbler
Ingredients:
For the Crust:
1 Cup Almond Flour
1 and 1/2 Cups Pecan Meal
1 Cup Coconut
1 Stick of Butter


For the Filling:
1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 Can Cherry Pie Filling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 11" deep dish baking pan. 
2. Take out 2 bowls.  In one, mix together almond flour, pecan meal, and coconut.  In the other, mix together milk and cherry pie filling.
3.  Spray pie pan.  Pour milk and cherry pie mixture on batter.  Spread out evenly.  Pour flour and coconut mixture on top.
4. Melt butter.  Drizzle over the top of the cobbler.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.  Top will be golden brown when finished.  Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

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 Pork Loin? Part 2

Aaahhh, for the first time in a very long time, we have a calm, uneventful weekend planned.  I am so excited!  I can't wait for Andy, Celia, Charlie and I to hang out and do laundry.  You know you're getting older when doing laundry excites you more than going out on a weekend!  We started our weekend off with a family dinner of pork loin leftovers.  I am happy to say that after making my Pecan Pork Cakes and adding some pork to our baked beans, we are finished with the leftover pork and will be on to new leftover recipes.  But first, the recipe for Pecan Pork Cakes.  They are delicious!  These are very similar to Crab Cakes, but with a sweeter taste and a smoother texture.  I topped them with a tangy sauce; the recipe for it will follow the Pecan Pork Cakes' recipe.  Hopefully your weekend will be as relaxing and productive as I'm planning on ours being!

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Pecan Pork Cakes
Ingredients:
2 1/2 Cups Chopped Pork
1/4 Cup Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup Pecan Meal*
1/8 Cup Bread Crumbs
2 Eggs
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Onion Powder
1/4 Tsp Ground Mustard
1/4 Tsp Pepper
1 Pinch of Sugar

Grind chopped pork loin and cream cheese in food processor until smooth.  Pour into a separate bowl.  Add pecan meal, bread crumbs, and eggs.  Mix thoroughly.  Add spices and mix again.  Heat oil in a frying pan.  Form pork into 2" to 2 1/2" patties.  Drop patties into oil and fry until golden brown.  Flip and fry the other side until both sides are golden brown.  Place on a plate with a paper towel, so the oil can drain off.  This recipe makes roughly 7 cakes.

*If you do not have pecan meal, simply grind pecans up in your food processor until finely chopped.

Dipping Sauce
Ingedients:
1/8 Cup BBQ Sauce
1/8 Cups Sweet n' Sour Sauce
2 Packs of Soy Sauce (the kind you get with Chinese take-out)
1/2 TBSP Honey

Whisk all ingredients together.  Serve with your Pecan Pork Cakes.