by California Casualty | News |
Today is Cinco de Mayo – and if you’ve followed us for very long, you know how much the CalCas staff loves food! Daphne (Customer Service) – shared a great Mexican Red Rice Recipe with us – and we’re passing it along to you!
Mexican Red Rice
(takes a little time to make, but, oh, so yummy!)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup long-grain rice (not parboiled or converted)
1/2 pound (about 12 medium) ripe cherry tomatoes, pureed in food processor
2 tablespoons chopped jalapenos or you can use green chiles (depends on your heat preference!)
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
Heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes or until tender. Stir in rice, then add pureed tomatoes, jalapenos or chiles, chicken stock, and salt. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 25 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
Serves 4 – Hope you enjoy!
by California Casualty | Educators |
This week is teacher appreciation week – and we had a little contest yesterday on our Facebook page where we asked folks to share a story about a teacher that has touched their lives in some way. We got so many great responses, I wanted to share them here as well!
Anna – I have so many teachers that I’d love to mention, but the one that sticks out for me is Ms Huckabee in Flour Bluff HS in Corpus Christi TX. I wasn’t that good of a student, but she saw something in me and encouraged me (a C student at best!) to join the academic Octathlon in 10th grade. I did, and did very good in competition. I went on to do Academic Decathlon when I was in 11th and 12th grade and did really well there too (1st in my division at state in 11th grade). I would have never gone into it if she hadn’t encouraged me. It improved my self esteem and made me the woman I am today (I went on to become a nurse).
Lauren – Best teacher in the world…. Margaret Chapman! She was my first grade teacher AND my Grandma! Taught me the love of reading.
Stacey – My kindergarten teacher, Miss Hinkle, was the best teacher I ever had. She showed me the love of reading and that all things are possible 🙂 when she saw how I was taking and loving learning all things new, she began a communication book ( journal) only between her and I. She would ask me things about my day, what I had learned and wanted to learn and all about my weekends. I was only 5 at the time but I think about her often and am now 41!!! I still have the book too 🙂
Fuvie – My husband, a teacher of LD and PE for 32 years is retiring this year due to SB5 and teacher retirement reforms. There was not a day he didnt get up looking forward to going to work. He has enjoyed every minute of his job for 32 years and will miss each and everyone of the 500+ students he sees on daily basis. I admire him for the love and devotion he has given over the years. He will miss it dearly.
Janie – I would like to thank a very special teacher I had in college. My mother. She is one of the most amazing educators that has ever taught me. She strives to make learning a hands on experience. All her students remember her and always say what a wonderful instructor she was.
Becky – I am a teacher and work with incredible teachers throughout my building and district….Id have to say the best teachers are the ones in my building and on my 2nd grade team!
Janine – I am a teacher in a very small school and we all have to work together as a team to do the best for our students and to get the best from our students. I have a lanyard hanging in my room that says TEAM – Together Everyone Achieves More, and in a small school this is so true. Way to go LBE:-)
David – My Mom was a 4th grade teacher for over 30 years, she is the most caring and inspiring person I know. Now I am grown living and working in the same community I grew up in and I am constantly meeting people that recognize my last name and say how my Mom was their favorite teacher growing up. This is her first year of retirement!!! I love you Mom!
Corinne – I’m a teacher who works mainly with students from other countries. In my mind the best teachers are those who take the time to get to know the students. They make the effort to activate schema of all students, those born and raised in refugee camps as well as the US born and raised. Teachers teach students not information and the better a teacher knows a student the more success they will both have!!
by California Casualty | Homeowners Insurance Info |
This has been a difficult spring in terms of natural disasters – from devastating tornadoes to a large number of hail storms. Currently, we’re watching towns in the south being submerged under water, and rivers in flood stages that haven’t been seen in recent history.
Our hearts go out these families, and you can rest assured that we are doing everything we can to help our customers who have been affected by all of these disasters. For many, seeing the flooding (and with hurricane season bearing down on us) begs the question – “Am I covered if this happens to me?” This press release just came across my desk, and hopefully it will answer some of those questions.
CHICAGO—With hurricane season starting on June 1st, the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) urges homeowners, business owners and renters who do not currently have flood insurance to buy it right away.
“Many insurance consumers do not realize that their standard homeowners policy does not cover flooding, and that flood insurance must be purchased separately,” said Don Griffin, PCI’s vice president, personal lines. “Flood insurance is sold through agents who sell policies on behalf of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). If you have only a standard homeowners policy and suffer flooding from a hurricane, the flood damage will not be covered under that policy, so it is crucial to have flood insurance. Because NFIP policies don’t take effect for 30 days, the sooner people can buy flood insurance, the better.”
While having flood insurance in place is important in coastal areas, recent heavy rains have brought flooding to much of the nation’s heartland as well. Unfortunately, according to the NFIP, more than 50 percent of properties in high-risk areas remain unprotected by flood insurance, and in the northeast and Midwest, coverage rates are significantly lower. Even in coastal areas that live under constant threat of hurricanes or tropical storms, many homeowners or renters do not have this crucial coverage.
According to the NFIP, floods are the number-one natural disaster in the United States, and 75 percent of all federally declared disasters over the past five years have involved flooding. There is a 26 percent chance that a home will suffer flooding over the course of a 30-year mortgage, and U.S. flood losses have averaged $2.4 billion per year over the last decade.
“In any part of the country where flooding is a possibility, property owners and renters should absolutely make sure to protect themselves and their belongings by purchasing flood insurance,” Griffin said.
Individuals who currently have homeowners or renters insurance should talk to their agents to see if their insurers sell flood policies. They can also locate agents who sell flood policies through the agent locator on the NFIP website.
