Gilmore Insurance and Bonding Blog
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Happy Friday! Sorry to have missed last week. We were having another battle of the lost internet connection. But I'm back and I have a craving for buffalo sauce. I am one of those junk-foodies who is never not in the mood for something with wing sauce on it. Or pizza. I truly will eat either one anytime, anywhere. So, on this lovely rainy Friday, I thought why not combine my two favorites and have a comfort food bonanza?
What you need:
3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves-cooked and cubed
2 tablespoons butter-melted
1 (2 ounce) bottle hot sauce
1 (8 ounce) bottle blue cheese dressing
1 prepared pizza crust
1 (8 ounce) package of shredded mozzarella cheese
What to do:
Preheat oven to 425 degress and prebake the crust for a few minutes. In a bowl, combine cooked chicken, butter and hot sauce. Spread entire bottle of salad dressing on crust, top with chicken mixture and sprinkle with cheese. Bake until gold and bubbly!
This is truly one of my favorite pizzas. To make it a bit easier, you can always buy pre-cooked chicken and use a store bought buffalo sauce instead of mixing the chicken with butter and hot sauce. For an extra decadent and spicy pizza, use a little bit of buffalo sauce and cream cheese on the crust, along with the blue cheese dressing. And don't forget the celery and carrot sticks on the side!
Hope you have a great weekend! See back here Monday.
Posted On
8/27/2010 10:06:20 AM
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Happy...Wednesday? Yes, the recipe is a little early this week. Tomorrow morning, Jackie and I will set off to Jacksonville, FL for a conference. We'll be learning about our operating system and how to more effectively use it to serve you! Just because I'll be out of the office Friday is no reason to leave you hanging on our weekly recipe though.
It's almost the weekend and you're trying to decide what to feed the fam or make for your weekend BBQ. By this time of the summer hamburgers, hotdogs and grilled chicken have lost all appeal for me, so I looked up something a little different: Wasabi Tuna Burgers! This recipe is surprisingly simple and also light on the calories. It comes from Bethenny Frankel of The Real Housewives of New York and I will, somewhat sheepishly, admit that I love her and her recipes.
What you need:
For the burger
4 pounds sushi-grade ahi tuna
5 basil leaves, chopped
4 scallions, chopped
2 heaping tablespoons black sesame seeds
4 table spoons low-sodium soy sauce
4 tablespoons honey
For Wasabi Mayo:
2 tablespoons wasabi paste (a little less if spicy isn't your thing!)
3 tablespoons mayo
Salt and Pepper to taste
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/2 a lime
What to do:
Combine all burger ingredients and form into patties. Recipe should make about 12 patties, so cut it in half for smaller gatherings. Grill each patty until medium-rare. For the mayo, combine all ingredients and use to top the tuna burgers. If you're pressed for time or just don't want to have a bunch of wasabi paste laying around the house, pre-made wasabi mayo is commercially available in some supermarkets and taste great on regular burgers too!
Hope you all have a great end to your week and a happy weekend! For the original recipe, click here.
Posted On
8/11/2010 10:27:20 AM
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I was doing my after-lunch Twitter check this afternoon and came across an article from the Insurance Journal. It was regarding whether or not vacant homes need insurance and if homeowners policies are sufficient. I retweeted their link, but in case you missed it or don't tweet, I have a little synopsis below. With everything going on in the economy, job market and housing market, it's a question we should all know the answer to.
While the economy might be improving, the housing market has been slow to follow leaving many with homes they cannot sell. While some consumers can decide to live in the home until the market improves or their luck changes, many cannot. For a good number of consumers, the improving economy has provided them a job--but not in their current city. This poses the question: Does a vacant home need insurance? In a word, yes! And homeowners insurance is not enough.
Unfortunately, homeowners insurance doesn't cover some of the added risk that comes along with a vacant home. These risks included break-ins, emergency response, and property liability just to name a few. It's evident when a home isn't being lived in. There is never a car in the driveway, the house is too quiet and there may be the obvious "For Sale" sign in the yard. For those persons looking to vandalize property, these are telltale signs. And who will be there to call a plumber if a pipe bursts in the night? If there is any work being done on the home to improve it for sale or for general upkeep so the house can be shown, the owner of the home could be found liable for any accident or damage when they aren't there.
So, what do you do if you have to move and can't sell your home? Check your homeowners policy first. You may have a predetermined time frame in which your homeowners insurance will still pay any claims. Your homeowners insurance may also have a "vacany clause" that can be put to use if you will be gone for a significant amount of time. You can also call your insurance agent and find out if there is an additional type of policy they can provide you to cover these types of events in case your homeowners will not. Unfortunately, these types of policy tend to be more expensive than traditional homeowners coverage. But, then again, not being covered could potentially cost you a lot more in the long run if your home is damaged.
For more information, please call us today. You can also check out the original article from the Insurance Journal here.
Posted On
8/9/2010 2:42:01 PM
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Happy Friday! It's hot. And raining. And all I can think is how nice it would be curl up in front of the TV with some good comfort food and take a nap! But it's too hot. Vicious cycle. I will admit I am already craving fall. It seems every year I can't wait for it to be warm enough for the beach, but, inevitably, about 2 months in I'm ready for it to be cool. I want to sit outside in the night air and make soup for dinner.
While I cannot have my favorite comfort, cool weather food just yet, I did find a nice alternative. Ice cream is one of my all-time favorite go to "feel better" foods. However, right now, even that sounds too heavy. What's a girl to do? Sorbet! Sorbet has been a big topic of conversation around the office this week. CSR Pam G. and I have been looking for a good sugar-free recipe, which led to the discovery of so many delicious, although not sugar-free, options. My favorite? Pineapple!
What you need:
1 small pineapple, peeled and cored
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
Mint sprigs (optional)
What to do:
Cut the pineapple into 2-inch pieces. Place pineapple and lemon juice in a food processor; process until smooth. Add sugar; process for 1 minute or until sugar dissolves. Pour the mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Spoon sorbet into a freezer-safe container. Cover and freeze 1 hour or until firm. Garnish with mint sprigs, if desired.
Ok, so not all of us own an "ice cream freezer" or maker, myself included. My very best friend lives in the world's tiniest apartment in Spain. She has no space to keep an ice cream maker or even air conditioning (YIKES) so she had to get creative when it came to staying cool in 99 degree temps. She took a metal bowl, loaded in the sorbet from the food processor and stuck it in the freezer. Stir every 30 minutes until the entire mixture is frozen/slushie. Then package in a more convenient freezer safe container!
Let me know how the sorbet works out! We'll be back next week with more informative insurance blogs, I promise! We've been working hard getting everything up and running with our great new carrier Nationwide, but I'll be back on track and telling you all about each of their products starting Monday, so check back. Have a great weekend!
Posted On
8/6/2010 10:48:25 AM
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Happy Friday! I would like to apologize to those following us for the lack of a recipe for last weekend. We're currently experiencing phone/internet issues most every afternoon, most likely heat related. For further information on our current situation, click here.
Speaking of the heat, it looks like another hot one here on the Gulf Coast with the heat index expected near 110! With this in mind, I picked a nice cool, yet hearty, salad for this week. No one wants to stand over a hot stove in sweltering heat! This recipe does call for grilling chicken, but if the thought of getting out there to the grill alone breaks you out in a sweat, sautéing the chicken in-doors should work just fine too!
What you need:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
2 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon white sugar
4 (4 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
8 cups torn romaine lettuce
2 oranges - peeled, segmented, and chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
4 green onions, chopped
What to do:
Whisk together orange juice, lime juice, shallots, garlic, chili powder, cumin, and sugar. Pour 1/2 of this mixture into a large, resealable plastic bag, and add the chicken breasts. Seal, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Refrigerate the remaining dressing. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat. In a large salad bowl, toss romaine lettuce with oranges, celery, and green onions. Lightly oil grate, and place chicken on grill. Discard the marinade from the chicken. Remove chicken from grill, and slice into thin strips. Toss salad with reserved dressing
Let me know what you think and have a great weekend!!
Posted On
7/30/2010 2:14:16 PM
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