Filling up an Electric Vehicle? It's Easier Than You Think

 

(BPT) - What’s holding you back from buying an electric vehicle? You’ve likely heard a lot of myths and misconceptions about electric vehicle ownership, especially when it comes to how you fill it up. However, the truth is that charging an electric vehicle can be simple, convenient and cost-effective.

If you’re on the fence about making the switch, check out these three fueling myths. With this knowledge, you can separate fact from fiction and make an informed decision about your next vehicle.

Myth #1: You can only charge an electric vehicle at a public charging station.

Depending on where you live, you may be concerned about finding public charging stations. However, the reality is that the majority of electric vehicle owners fill up at home. According to a new Ford survey, 88% of electric vehicle owners across the country prefer the convenience and savings of filling up at home with electricity and rarely charge publicly.

If you’re concerned that filling up at home will be complicated, don’t sweat it. The survey also found that 92% of current electric vehicle owners find filling up at home as easy as plugging in their phone. Once you have a charging station installed in your garage, you can plug in your car at night and wake up to a full tank!

Myth #2: A single charge won't get you where you need to go.

Early electric vehicles were limited by range, but newer models have more than enough fuel to get you to and from work, school, the grocery store and more. For example, Ford offers electric trucks and SUVs with over 300 miles of range.

If you’re skeptical whether that’s enough to get you around town, consider this: According to Ford, the average vehicle in America travels more than 150 miles in a day just four times per year. So, if you are planning a longer trip, you might have to stop at a public charging station, but you’ll have more than enough for your daily drive on a single charge.

Myth #3: Charging an electric vehicle is expensive.

Filling up with electricity is often more cost-effective than filling up with a tank of gas. In fact, Consumer Reports found that electric vehicle owners spend 60% less to fill up compared to traditional gas-powered cars.

Why? Electricity prices are typically lower than gas prices. Also, electricity prices are more stable than gas prices. As an electric vehicle owner, not only will you avoid weekly or monthly trips to the gas station, but you’ll also avoid the sticker shock of fluctuating gas prices.

Go electric with confidence

Are you ready to go electric? If so, check out the new Ford Power Promise.

Ford wants to make electric vehicle ownership easier by directly supporting owners and car shoppers in the areas that matter most, starting with the most important — charging. For a limited time, Ford is offering a complimentary home charger and standard installation, so you can switch to an electric vehicle with confidence. Simply plug in at night, just like you do with your phone, and wake up with a full tank.

The Ford Power Promise also includes:

• Ongoing support and guidance: With 24/7 electric vehicle support and roadside assistance with proactive charging support, Ford has your back.
• On-the-road charging: Ford makes charging on the road easy, now with access to more than 15,000 designated Tesla Superchargers with the available Fast Charging Adapter.
• Battery confidence: Ford offers an 8-year, 100,000-mile warranty on its electric vehicle batteries.

To learn more about Ford electric vehicles and the Ford Power Promise, visit FordPowerPromise.com.

Plan for a Secure Financial Future

 

(Family Features) A bumpy economy and rising cost of living have Americans rethinking their finances.

In fact, about 36% of households feel anxious about their current financial situation, according to the Financial IQ Study by World Financial Group.

Although short-term pressures and demands can make it difficult, developing a financial strategy based on both literacy and resilience is key to establishing a solid financial future. To many, financial literacy and financial resilience mean the same thing. In fact, financial literacy refers to knowledge, while resilience means you are more likely to be prepared for unexpected financial events.

Wondering where to start? Here are some tips to help build a more financially sound future.

Review Your Current Financial Situation

Having a firm grasp on your current income and expenses can provide insight into adjusting your finances to reach your goals. Most households believe the day-to-day cost of living is a key short-term financial priority. While meeting your immediate needs is essential, so is planning for the future. Determining what money is coming in and what you owe each month tells you how much is left for discretionary spending and saving.

Start Saving Now

It’s never too early to start saving. Even a modest amount set aside every month will grow into a more meaningful account balance over time. A common rule of thumb is 20% of your overall income. You can stretch your income further by taking advantage of options like employer retirement savings programs that deduct funds before taxes, especially if the employer matches your contributions.

Consult a Financial Professional

You don’t have to be a financial whiz to create a smart plan for your future. Financial professionals can help design a strategy tailored to your specific needs. They specialize in helping individuals and families find financial confidence through life insurance, retirement and wealth-building strategies. You can take a financial literacy quiz to assess your financial resilience and measure your readiness to withstand economic challenges.

Prepare for Unexpected Expenses

Unexpected events can have catastrophic impacts on household finances. For example, leaving the workforce early due to illness could mean years of lost earning power, which could impact your short- and long-term priorities. Other examples, like unplanned home repairs or medical expenses, can also make a major dent in your financial plan. Creating an emergency fund, separate from a savings account, can help offset the impact of unexpected expenses.

Safeguard Your Family

Losing a family member can bring much more than heartbreak, especially if that person’s income factors heavily into the household budget. However, different types of life insurance are designed to help safeguard your finances and can accommodate different budgets and lifestyles.

Term life insurance offers individual life insurance protection for a specified number of years. It’s usually less expensive than permanent insurance with the same face value. Permanent life insurance, including whole-life coverage, remains in effect until the policyholder’s death as long as premiums are paid. Most permanent life insurance policies also offer some type of savings component that builds cash value over the life of the policy.

Learn more and test your literacy and financial resilience at WorldFinancialGroup.com.

Photo courtesy of iStock
SOURCE:
World Financial Group

Yoga Versus Pilates And Which Should You Choose?

 

While both yoga and Pilates take an integrated mind-body approach to fitness and well-being, their origins, approach to these objectives and methods differ greatly.

The emergence of mind-body classes like Pi-Yo and Yogalates can make it difficult for people to distinguish between the two. Although the two can be pursued as complementary activities or integrated into one style, like Pi-Yo, they are not the same.

It can be beneficial to practice each independent of the other and which one you practice depends on what you want to achieve.

Origins 

Yoga

Yoga is a spiritual practice with a physical aspect. It evolved in India 3,000 to 5, 000 years ago. Yogis, people who practice yoga, use breath work (pranayama), physical poses (asanas), meditation (dhyana) and personal practices to pursue the full integration of mind, body and spirit or samadhi. Samadhi refers to attaining the state of enlightenment, bliss, or union with the divine.

Pilates

Pilates emerged in the late 1900s, introduced to the world by its namesake, Joseph Pilates. Pilates developed his method as part of his efforts to heal himself. He suffered from physical weaknesses, rheumatic fever, asthma, and rickets, during his childhood.

In his efforts to cure himself, he studied Eastern and Western forms of exercise, Greek and Roman exercise practices like wrestling, gymnastics and calisthenics as well as yoga.

How Yoga and Pilates Differ

In general, Western yoga practitioners are most familiar with the physical postures of yoga. Yoga postures, asanas, are only one component of an extensive system of philosophy, spiritual practices, and science.

The poses are intended to build strength in the body and encourage mental focus. The asanas develop and strengthen every part of the body, joints, muscles, organs, glands, bones, and metabolism.

During yoga, the breathing is deep and continuous linked to each movement and asana throughout the practice. Yoga’s extensive and currently exponential growth in popularity in Europe, the United States, and Canada supports the development of a broad range of yoga asana styles, including the more popular styles:

• Ashtanga
• Vinyasa
• Anusara
• Hot Yoga
• Yoga Therapy
• Restorative
• Chair Yoga
• Bikram

How Pilates Differs

Pilates differs from yoga in several ways. Both yoga and Pilates focus on integrating the mind and body, but Pilates does not include any spiritual pursuits. It does generally increase practitioners’ sense of well-being, but this is not its primary purpose.

Pilates also takes a less organic approach to movement. All Pilates exercises extend from the body’s core, also called the powerhouse. The powerhouse spans the center of the body from the pelvic floor to the top of the shoulders.

Pilate’s practitioners focus on stabilizing the powerhouse and allowing other limbs to move freely to guide the body through the Pilates regimen of movements. Pilates also incorporates the use of exercise machines to offer support and take muscles through their full range of motion with optimal levels of extension and contraction.

During Pilates, the breath is coordinated with the execution of each exercise. The primary focus of each move in Pilates is perfect execution, versus repetition of any particular move.

The Mindfulness Element Of Yoga

Overall, yoga offers more than 60 different health benefits for mind, body, and soul. It reaches into every aspect on one’s life and goes way beyond fitness and physical achievement.

For example, the mindfulness approach taught in yoga that is not a part of Pilates helps one to improve many elements of life, including weight loss where getting in touch with the true needs of the body, such as hunger helps to reduce incidence of emotional eating or eating for any other reason but hunger.

The mindfulness aspect of yoga can be viewed as “life skills” training. In addition, this training can help deter many emotional and mental health problems, and the associated physical manifestations that result from them.

Mindfulness during yoga brings calm and peace to your mind, body, and life. Through the process, you become more in touch with how you really feel, and that includes symptoms of stress. Such a heightened state of awareness allows you to better manage the triggers and affects that stress can have, thereby allowing you to avoid its serious health complications.

Many scientific studies have demonstrated the practice of mindfulness to have impressive and wide reaching benefits, including: 

• Greater sense of well-being
• Stress and anxiety reduction
• Better mood
• Reducing risks for depression
• Better immunity
• Better social relationships
• Improved cognition, memory and focus
• Improved awareness of oneself
• Improved ability to make decisions
• Improved sleep
• Reduction in chronic pain
• Lower blood pressure and reduction in risk for heart disease
• More enjoyment of life in general
• Overall improvement in quality of life

Why Choose?

While yoga and Pilates provide similar benefits, a strong and toned body, endurance and a sense of well-being, their end goals differ.

• Pilates focuses on strengthening and rehabilitating the body for optimal physical health; the mind or will is employed to achieve this goal.

• Yoga's physical postures and breath exercises strengthen the body and discipline the mind in preparation for meditation and spiritual evolution.

In short, Pilates is outwardly focused and yoga is inwardly focused.

Making the choice between doing Pilates and practicing yoga comes down to one of intentions. If the intention is simply to form a strong and balanced body, Pilates will serve.

If the intention is to achieve a strong and balanced physical body while gaining mental and spiritual benefits, pursue yoga.

If both outcomes seem like something you would like to experience, try them both and see which one you find most accessible and beneficial. It just may turn out that you are not willing to let either one go.

Maquinas Para Hacer Pasteles

 

Maquinas de hacer Pasteles

Maquina de hacer Pasteles & Alcapurrias: para comprar haga click al botón azul de Shop Now o Comprar. Si vive en PR, el shipping es $20 en vez de $70. Favor enviar mensaje para información.

Maquina de Pasteles & Alcapurrias - Guayadora de Verduras, Sofrito, Coco y Pilar Cafe
Maquina para hacer Pasteles - Pasteles Machine - Maquina Moledora de Viandas

Guayadora de Verduras, Sofrito, Frutas, Vegetales, Coco, Pilar Cafe & Rallador de Queso
(Grater for Vegetables, Coconut, Coffee & Cheese Grater)

Maquina de Moler Vianda para hacer Masa de Pasteles & Alcapurrias
(Automatic Grater Machine for making masa of Pasteles & Alcapurrias)

La mejor maquina en el mercado. Hecho en Puerto Rico.
(The best machine in the market. Made in Puerto Rico.)

Todas las piezas son nuevas. Construida profesionalmente. Calidad Comercial.
(All parts are new. Professionally built. Commercial quality.)

La maquina sale con el guayo mediano (rotitos) pero esta maquina tiene la ventaja que puede ordenar guayos de diferentes perforaciones (rotitos) ya que hay 3 tamaños: Pequeño, Mediano, Grande.

COMPRA AQUI

 

National Coquito Festival

 

2024 National Coquito Festival

 

December 7, 2024 @ 6:00PM — 9:00PM Central Time

 

Rincon Family Services: 3710 N Kedzie Ave Chicago, IL 60618 

Location

Puerto Rican Arts Alliance
3000 N. Elbridge
Chicago, IL 60618

Coquito (small coconut) is a rich, creamy coconut-based holiday drink with Puerto Rican origins. It is generally made with coconut milk, coconut cream, sweet condensed milk, rum, cinnamon, vanilla and cloves. The National Coquito Festival, in keeping with the mission of PRAA, was established in 2018 to promote and preserve the heritage of this iconic drink – and to draw people together during the holiday season in order to continue to nurture pride in our culture and traditions.

This celebratory holiday festival features traditional food, music and Parandas – with the main event being a coquito competition to find the best Coquito. Most Puerto Rican families have a treasured coquito recipe and they will boast that their Coquito is the best! This event gives volunteers an opportunity to showcase their family recipe in hopes of winning the contest and having official bragging rights for one entire year.

Purchase Your 2024 National Coquito Festival Tickets TODAY!

Join Us for the 7th Annual National Coquito Festival!

This is a fundraising event to support the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance's year-round youth music and arts educational programs.

Ticket purchase includes appetizers, beverages, a complimentary shot glass, Coquito tasting, live "parranda" music, dancing and of course Coquito! Stay tuned for more information. Cheers!

Parking is available via the alley behind Rincon Family Services. There is also ample street parking.

Tickets are $75 in advance, $100 at the door. Capacity is limited.

 

the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois

 

The Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois (PRBA) is a not-for-profit entity that was established in 1994 to address issues affecting the Latino lawyers and the Latino community.

The PRBA is committed to advocating for diversity in the Illinois bar and among the students and faculty of Illinois law schools; to influence legislation and policies that are relevant to the common interests of Latino lawyers statewide; and to provide a professional and social network and support system for the lawyers, judges, and law students who advocate and share a common interest in diversity within the bar.

The PRBA plans to promote its purposes by championing diversity on the bench, in the bar, in the legislature and in law schools; hosting CLE’s and other substantive seminars that will serve to enhance the legal skills of our lawyers; and encourage the success of the law students.

The PRBA also has also been continuously involved in the Alliance of bar associations in the screening and rating of judicial candidates, who are either attempting to become a Judge for the first time or who are running to retain their position. The PRBA also supports efforts to place more Latinos on the bench so that the judiciary more accurately reflects the community it serves.

Flan 101

 Back to Recipes

Flan is a traditional Puerto Rican dessert. We've all eaten it and love it. Most of us are a bit weary of the task of making it. But, we are here to tell you it is easy. These are the 'basic' instructions. All that changes are the ingredients.

First prepare the caramel so that it has time to 'set' before pouring in the custard.

The Caramel

The most daunting part of preparing a flan was the caramel. I was always afraid of burning myself or burning the caramel. Preparing the caramel in the microwave is so easy, un guame!

Pour 1 cup sugar and about ¼ cup water in a microwave safe cup. I use a 2 cup glass Pyrex measuring cup. Just stir the sugar and water a bit and microwave on high for about 5 minutes until it reaches the right color. Once 4 minutes have passed keep your eye in the microwave. You need to open the door once the caramel reaches that golden color. If it is not dark enough at 5 minutes, add another 30 seconds, but open the door once the color is right. You are looking to get the perfect color, not too light and not too dark.

Then just pour into the flan pan and swirl to cover the bottom. Always let the caramel set before pouring in the custard. How easy is that?

Next get the 'baño de María' or bain-marie (water bath) ready. I use a large cookie sheet on the bottom, then set a large roasting pan on the sheet. At the last minute you will need to boil some water to pour into the roasting pan. Start water to boil when just before you begin preparing custard.

Now that the mold and baño are ready prepare the flan as per your recipe. see photo on right

Carefully pour the custard into the mold. Cover with foil, sit in the roasting pan, add the hot water to the roasting pan no more than half way up, and bake at 350° for about an hour.

Test for doneness by inserting a wet knife in the center, if it comes clean it's done. Larger flans will take 1½ hours. If the flan does not seem solid in the middle, bake it longer, test again. Remove from the oven and let it cool down to the touch. Refrigerate at least 6 hours before serving.

To serve run a knife around the inside of the mold, cover the mold with a dish that has a bit of a lip to hold the caramel, such as a pie plate. Carefully flip it over and wait a few minutes until the flan has dropped. Carefully lift the mold. (For ramekins use individual saucers).

I often bake my flan ahead 2 or 3 days leaving in in the mold in the fridge. Leaving it in the mold makes it easy to carry out of the house, make sure you put it in an ice chest if you are taking it out. Serve cold.

Good to note here that traditional Puerto Rican flan usually has more than 6 eggs, and turns out firmer than the flan served in the United States. I use 8 - 10 eggs since I am a traditionalist and like to prepare things the way my mother did (she used 10). I add a tablespoon of vanilla for richer flavor.

More eggs means a larger flan and takes a bit longer to cook and it is more solid or firm and not jiggly. It is a Puerto Rican thing. Just add extra eggs and vanilla and that's all, if you like it firm.