Used Food (Leftovers)- Crunchy Breakfast Bars

In my house, leftovers are referred to as "used food". When I first heard my hubby called it used food, I pictured the worst, until I realized he was talking about leftovers. I LOVE LEFTOVERS. I've been known to eat my Dad's sausage stuffing cold, right out of the refrigerator. My goal today was to take the leftovers from yesterday's Thanksgiving Day Feast and transform them into something that didn't look like the original dish. I figured if he can't identify the item that was served, he can't say "used food". I decided to make a breakfast bar with my carrots and sweet potatoes.

You'll need:

Puree of veggies from Thanksgiving

4 cups dry oats

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon Baida Trilogy Health Seeds

2 tablespoon dried cranberries

2 tablespoon sliced almonds

1/4 cup chopped chestnuts

So here goes. Remember those great carrots, sweet potatoes and dried cranberries from yesterday?

I put them in the food processor and made a chunky puree. I wanted it to have texted still and not turn it into baby food. I had a creative idea and wanted this recipe to be unique but still on the healthy side.

I started to pre-heat the oven at 325 degrees and after a few minutes this delightful, warm spice aroma filled the air. UH-OH... I know what that means, what did I forget from yesterday?? Yuppers, the chestnuts were still in the oven and now warm. I'm the only person in my house that eats chestnuts and I forgot all about them when I put the desserts on the table.

I started to shell the chestnuts and thought they would add a great taste to the breakfast bars. Once shelled, I chopped them into small pieces and added them to the mixing bowl. The puree was the foundation and I was now adding layers of flavors on top to mix in.

One of my favorite additions to add to muffins, breads, etc. is Baida's Trilogy Health Seeds (flax, chia and hemp). One large tablespoon was added to the mixing bowl, along with 1 tbsp of honey. Almonds or any nut will add a crunch to the bars, 4 cups of dry oats and dried cranberries rounds out the breakfast bars.

Spread the mixture on a cookie sheet in a thin layer. Bake 325 degrees for 30 minutes then cut into bars. Flip the bars and return to the cookie sheet to re-bake for another 30 minutes. You can see the small chunks of carrots in the mixture. I wanted to make sure I had small bursts of sweetness and not have to add a large amount of sugar.

This recipe is only a guide, if you like your bars sweeter you can add more honey, agave or chocolate chips. Don't have left over veggies? You can use canned pumpkin or any roasted vegetables that you like. Cranberries can be replaced by raisins and almonds by any nut (pine nuts, walnuts, etc) You don't need to add the health seeds, but they add such nutritional value to the bars and a great way to start your day.

So the goal was to do something new with the "used food", I'd say the crunchy breakfast bars was a success.

Enjoy!