Be Safe This New Years - Free Tipsy Tow and Metro

By Hidden Los Angeles

Just to clarify with the latest info for tonight:

AAA SERVICE: Tipsy Tow services are offered until 6am (up to seven miles – whether you’re an AAA member or not) if you call 1-800-400-4AAA and tell the operator, “I need a Tipsy Tow.” A truck will be dispatched, and will tow both the driver and their car.

METRO FARE: no fare will be charged on Metro Rail and Bus lines from 9pm tonight until 2am tomorrow. Those boarding buses and trains after 2am will need to TAP to ride. (Fare is $1.50 per direction per line or $5.00 for a Day Pass.)

METRO SCHEDULE:
New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31-Jan. 1): Metro will provide all-night service on the Red, Purple, Blue, Expo, Green, Gold, Orange and Silver Lines in addition to bus lines which normally operate late-night owl service. Trains will run at 20-minute intervals from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m.
New Year’s Day: Metro buses and trains will follow Sunday/Holiday schedules.

The only exception is the Metro Gold Line, which will run longer trains at more frequent intervals between Union Station and Pasadena for those going to the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl game.

Be safe out there, peeps! :)

Our microwave has 2 uses:

1) a perch for the cat
2) a place to keep food safe from the dogs til we serve it.

From A Plastic Bottle Let There Be Light!

In the Philippines, a brilliant and simple light source is being installed into low-income homes. I could see this making a big impact all over the world.

See Liter of Light video 

Tracking for success and sometimes amusement

Funniest/oddest search words that took people to my Blogging for a Cure blog this week: "yogurt expiration dates"

Do you track your top searches?

Beating the Heat and The Budget

It's been a while since I've had 8 or 9 people living in my house at once, in fact we are down to just 3 at this moment (it could change), but one thing has stayed constant; Summer is hot and the budget is tight.

I've managed to keep a good grip on the budget tiger by becoming a big fan of our market's Manager Specials. This also means that my freezer is kept full of items from the specials and my meals can be just a little more odd... no, make that more creative than your standard Betty Crocker family dinning fare.

Yesterday I visited the freezer to give my daughter the benefits of my latest Manager Special harvest, mozzarella and other various cheeses (I don't do the cow). While there I noticed my stock pile of Naan and brought some in.

Today's summer temperature just begged for a zero cooking tolerance. Alas, the family begged to be fed. Then it hit me..

Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you :: drumroll :: Hot Day Pizza!

In just minutes, I had sliced the last two Roma tomatoes in the fridge and lay them on the Jalapeno Goat Cheese topped Naan. The added bonus to this all was that "the Boys" were as impressed with the shared meal as I was with the ease.

Did you notice the mason jar glass of green goodness? More Manager Special ingredients; 1 marked down bag of salad greens, 2 red apples, 6 ice cubes in a blender. The slight splurge was also from a previous Manager's Special purchase. I added a splash of Zeta Olive Oil with Lemon.

All in all, a happy mom. One who has more time to jump on the bike, I might add ;)

Everything Old is New Again (at least to me).

I am so glad juicing has found it's way into America's kitchens.

Back in the day, I would come home from work and too tired to cook, or just not interested in cooking for one, I would throw any veggie within reach into the blender with ice (I have no idea why I used ice instead of water).

On a few occasions I might use fruit and yogurt. Those were the throw-caution-to-the-wind days since it took more effort to clean the blender afterwards. As a single woman living in San Francisco, it was more likely that you would find me leaning over the sink at midnight, rushing to finish the yogurt before it's expiration date.

After a while, I traded in my whole-food-wheat-grass-vegetarian life for one that was just a little more acceptable to my new life of being evolving wanna be gourmet chef as the perfect wife slash mommy. During my attempt to bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan with all the ease of Martha Stewart, I hid my pregnancy cravings of large quantity of lettuce and dined on a steady supply of Burrito Supremes. While my then husband would make his pilgrimage to Taco Bell, I would greedily consume complete heads of lettuce in secret.

Confessing my shame to my OB/Gyn he pointed out that your body often craves what it needs. I needed more Chlorophyll which I was getting from my leafy greens and the beans assisted in my body's desire for protein. All good things that the baby would like too.

Fast forward to my recent years which include a new and improved husband,  I've returned to my old ways. The meatatarians in from life might ridicule me just a tad but over all they're jiggy with it, as long as I still throw some baby backed ribs their way every now and then.

Last week I was watching one of "those" documentaries Fat Sick & Nearly Dead and my husband pulled up a seat to watch. This was monumental. On most occasions, he'll stand in the doorway, heckle some or pause slightly as he walks through the room on his way to the kitchen - pausing only for that little wink at his wife.

As I said, he pulled up a seat. He sat forward and watched, really watched. He stayed. the. entire. time.

The next day, he watched Forks Over Knives with me and told over people about it!

Today, I didn't feel like getting up early and making our traditional family breakfast that could feed a few farm hands.  On his suggestion, I threw some vegetables into the blender for a long lost feeling of nostalgia. Why, oh why, did I ever give this up? I wondered out loud.

Then I heard it, those magic words, "You know honey, I bet you'd like a juicer". After that, he took me to the Farmer's Market where I bought goat cheese with glee (and not one snicker). I love this man.

Which Are You?

Grandmother Says... Carrots, Eggs, or Coffee; "Which are you?"

A young woman went to her grandmother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her grandmother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her granddaughter, she asked, "Tell me what do you see?"

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they got soft.She then asked her to take an egg and break it.

After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The granddaughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma. The granddaughter then asked. "What's the point,grandmother?"

Her grandmother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity--boiling water--but each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her granddaughter.

"When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"

Think of this: Which am I?

Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff?

Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another level?

---AUTHOR UNKNOWN