I found a great way to use leftover breakfast oatmeal, that doesn't involve the dog or the compost pile!
Unfortunately, I have no measurements, and neither will you, as leftover amounts vary.
So here's what I did:
I took our leftover oatmeal (probably about a cup) which had some chopped strawberries, brown sugar, and ground flax seed added in already, and right in the pan I added a healthy scoop of peanut butter, a splash of vanilla, and a few tablespoons of whole wheat flour (I use either white whole wheat or regular whole wheat, always unbleached, for everything but diaper rash treatment). Stir in enough flour until it has the thickness of cookie dough. I want to warn you that it will not look like the cookie dough that you're used to, because the oats are already cooked. It will be stickier than oatmeal cookie dough, but the thickness should be about the same. And then add whatever else you want--I added a handful of chocolate chips, and diced fruit or nuts or coconut would be great, too.
Drop by spoonfuls (mine are usually heaping) onto a cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes at 375F.
Letting them cool on the cookie sheet for about 10 minutes will help them to set up. They'll be wetter than the average oatmeal cookie, again because of the pre-cooked oats, but that didn't seem to make any difference to my 2, 4, and 5 year olds. They loved it, and although I couldn't have any because of my unfortunate inability to digest dairy (there was milk in the oatmeal), that's enough for me to say that they're at least "good" if not "really good".
And, nutritionally speaking, they're just as nutritious as the breakfast that you were feeding your kiddos, with the added protein and brain-developing fat of peanut butter and fiber of whole wheat flour.
And I'm with the French on the topic of chocolate: good chocolate (not the milky and over-sugared kind--we use at least 70% cacao) should be enjoyed often. So throw some in there! It's such a mood booster.
