Cucumber and Onion Salad

Ingredients:
2 medium-sized cucumber
1/2 large onion
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons sugar

Instructions:

• Peel and slice cucumbers and place the slices in a small bowl.
• Peel and slice onion and add to cucumbers.
• Sprinkle salt, pepper, and sugar over top.
• Mix vinegar and water and pour over veggies.
• Give mixture a stir and seal in a container with a lid.
• Refrigerate for at least two hours and maybe even overnight.

Basic Granola

Ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats
3-4 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Instructions:

• Generously grease a sheet pan with butter and preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• In a large mixing bowl, stir together oats, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
• In a small bowl, mix together oil, honey, and vanilla. (I generally just stir this all together in a measuring cup.)
• Pour wet ingredients atop dry ingredients and stir together well.
• Spread mixture into sheet pan and sprinkle with almonds.
• Bake for about five-to-ten minutes and stir.
• Bake for another fifteen-to-twenty minutes.  (I usually break this up and stir it a second time.)

• Cool for at least twenty minutes in pan that is setting on a wire rack and stir another time or two.  (Granola will harden as it cools.)
• Store in a mason jar.  (Will keep for a couple of weeks.)

Yield: about 1 1/2 Quarts

You can add dried fruits such as raisins, cranberries, blueberries, or apricots to the cooled granola.  I like to stir it into some plain or vanilla yogurt along with some fresh berries for breakfast or a snack.