A Star at Wesley Willows

Amy Feary has been at Wesley Willows for 10 years and been cooking for 35 years!

She takes such pride in cooking for the residents and is a true artist when it comes to making the best looking and tasting purees.

The residents get so excited when they see the plate placed in front of them. It’s truly amazing how she makes the item on the menu actually look like what’s on the menu.

She was inspired at an early age by her mother who was a country cook and taught her to make large meals for her family. One of Amy's hobbies she enjoys outside of work, is growing her large garden and canning for the winter.

We are so proud to have Amy on our team and the residents just love her!

Teresa Hougen |  Senior Director of Dining Services| Morrison Community Living | Wesley Willows

Pureed Stuffed Pork Loin at Smith Crossing

One of our morning cooks at Smith Crossing has been putting an extra effort into our puree meals.  Megan Pyzik recently showed her talent by making a pureed stuffed pork loin.  Residents, staff members, and family members were very impressed with the meal.  Thank you, Megan for enriching the lives of seniors!

Kara Superczynski Dining Manager Smith Crossing

Pureed Rib Dinner at Western Home

 

Being on a puree diet is one of the most challenging things a person can be faced with when it comes to eating.  At Western Home we strive to create a great meal experience regardless of the diet order.  Getting residents to eat what is on their plate promotes weight gain and helps them on the road to recovery.  Weight loss is the number one problem reported among people on a puree diet and is normally expected.  We are pushing the limits and our cooks to create and serve the best looking and tasting meals.  Todays noon meal was BBQ Ribs, Corn, and Macaroni and Cheese.  One of our cooks, Veronica Salizar, hit this one out of the park.

Randy Husted, CDM, CFPP

General Manager of Dining Services

Western Home Communities

From Twitter - Amazing Purees!

Making Puree Plates More Appealing

After attending the regional Puree Training, Chef Austin came back to our unit and trained his cooks on what he had learned.  I am sure this will make a big difference in the appearance of our purees, as Chef is very diligent about following up with the cooks and servers about important initiatives such as this.

Cheryl Naftel, CDM| Director Dining Services | Morrison Community Living| The Fountains at Franklin

Appealing Puree at The Village of East Harbor

The Village of East Harbor has been focusing on puree meals and how to keep them interesting for our residents. With a little creativity, some effort and training we have made it so our puree diet residents look forward to meal time as much as anyone else. 

With no expenditure, we have added value to our services and we have enriched the lives of these seniors every day.

Quinn Hannon

Executive Chef

Pureed Patriotic Parfaits

July 4^th at Huron County Medical Care Facility

HCMCF is working to improve their puree program. Recently the focus has been on the desserts. The staff in charge of making desserts and the puree person took it upon themselves this 4^th of July to ensure that even the residents who need pureed or thickened desserts could enjoy the celebration.

When preparing the Patriotic Parfait dessert, the prep person made sure to leave some of the layers of gelatin in separate containers. Then the puree person was able to individually puree each layer and assemble the same looking dessert as the rest of the residents.

What great customer service and teamwork by the HCMCF staff!

Puree diets creatively plated for birthday party

Isabella Medical Care facility had a birthday luncheon for the residents. Every month at our residential council meeting the residents choose the birthday luncheon menu for the month, so for July, the residents decided on BBQ ribs which they love! The meal also included Pasta Salad, Corn on the Cob or Baked Beans as well as Fresh Watermelon for dessert. 

We have just started introducing the puree program into our facility. In the photo we displayed our meal along with the puree version. We wanted to share the creativity from our cooks. One example is the puree watermelon that resembles a shape of a watermelon slice. Our staff used green applesauce for the rind, strawberry applesauce in the shape of a wedge and to top it off they used chocolate syrup as the seeds. We received a lot of compliments from other departments on how real the puree watermelon looked and how much more appetizing it was for the residents that are on puree diets.

yolanda mccormack| adds

Team Lundin's Puree Innovation

A big thank you to Chef Tonya Higgins at Masonic Pathways and her Evening Cook Todd for hosting Team Lundin for Puree Innovation!  Lead by Chef James Minton, with Chef Tonya, Chef Brian Brookman, and DDS(and former chef!) Christina Bodanza we have started the process to bring innovation and consistency to the Region, after the Town Hall meeting with Chef Leny Longo's motivation. Quality, consistency, and FLAVOR were the words of the day.  Look for great things happening via Dropbox, Twitter> @bethebenchmark, and Instagram> @bethebenchmark.

Christina Bodanza CDM CDP | Director of Dining Services ♦ Christian Rest Home

New Purees at the Weils

As a new employee at Morrison Senior Living it’s sometimes difficult to wade thru all the programs that should be in place at your account. While at my orientation at the Atlanta Learning Center one of the food demos was for Puree Foods. Using the shape and serve product the piles of mush normally made and poured on a plate were transformed into a creation that looked like the actual dish.

I will be the first to admit that being a smaller account with only one or two puree meals being made at each serving, that those puree meals didn't get a whole lot of attention. After watching the demo and seeing what we could be doing I was rather ashamed of the product we were presenting to residents as a puree meal. I knew we needed this program implemented as soon as possible.

Upon returning to my account, having already ordered the shape and serve product from our broad liner, a meeting was held with the culinary team to discuss the new program. At the meeting I made an example of a dish we could create basically coping what I saw at the demo in Atlanta. The cooks were all about the program and there passion to exceed expectations was impressive. We rolled the product out the next day, not only were the employees proud of these creations but so were the residents, client and nursing staff.

I have attached a few examples of plates created recently created like beef stroganoff, beef brisket, meatloaf and spaghetti with meatballs. Using a piping bag with different tips allows some great options. The program continues to keep advancing daily thanks to the dedication of the staff.

David Snacki
Director of Dining Services

Western Days at Isabella Medical Care Facility

Western Days is a long standing tradition at Isabella Medical Care Facility.  It is a two day event held outdoors at the facility with staff, family & friends invited.  This year, Morrison provided a great spread of desserts for our guests including Holy Cow Cupcakes. 

We were especially proud of our puree dessert options and display (featuring Texas Sheet Cake, Caramel Apple Pie, & Lemon Peach Bar).  In fact, many of our guests stopped at this table asking for samples.  They were quite surprised to learn it was actually the puree version of items being served.  

In addition to the great desserts offered we also added a photo booth and props.  Residents were able to get their pictures with our cook John who was kind enough to dress up as John Wayne.  We even convinced our client to participate in getting her picture w/ John Wayne too.

We look forward to providing great food & great services again next year keeping this tradition going!

Danielle Cataline, RD

Director of Dining Services

Perfectly Pureed at Christian Rest Homes

A few weeks ago, two of my servers came to me, disheartened that with all the advancements we had made with our puree program, breakfast remained unchanged: pureed scrambled eggs and hot cereal.  Thanks to their concern and buy in, we brought breakfast to our Culinary Techs and just look at the results:  Slurried pancakes and pureed sausage patty, all warm and delicious with butter and syrup!  Our puree program has been huge for Client Retention, and Employee Engagement.  Just look at the smile on the face of our server!

 Christina Bodanza Director of Dining Services; Christian Rest Home

Nutrition News: UGH! What to do with my overripe....Avocados?

When it comes to avocados, it seems that one minute they are too firm and then the next they are mush. This superfood has a lot going for it, but can scare people away for fear of wasting them if they become overripe. Here are some great recipes to share in case you miss your "perfectly ripe moment".

Uh, freeze them!

 Pink Sugar Bowl shows how to buy when the price is right and then freeze them for later.

Don't throw out your ripe avocados!

Afraid of the ugly brown color? Incorporate them into a baked good.

 

Joy the Baker's Avocado Pound Cake

 

Kitchen Apparel's Chocolate Avocado Muffins

 

Add a healthy fat to a rich, creamy dish.

 

Mother Rimmy's Avocado Soup

 

How Sweet It Is Chocolate Avocado Pudding

 

Food Network's Chocolate Avocado Mousse

 

Avocados are a great source of fiber, vitamin K, folate, vitamin B6, potassium, vitamin E and have "good fats" making them heart healthy.

Puree Program Innovation at Christian Rest Homes

With a Skilled nursing population of almost 140 residents in our community, modified food textures play an important part of our daily production.  On my first day as Dining Director at Christian Rest Home, Chef Grant came to me and said: I want to have the best puree program in the region.  With that goal in mind, we brought clinical and culinary together by creating a new position, a “Culinary Tech”.  This needed to be someone that understood the needs of our residents, which lead our search to the front of the house.

Sandy Baumgart has been a dietary aide with Christian Rest Home for over two years, and expressed an interest in the fledgling position.  With help from first cook Caitlyn Hastings, she quickly learned her way around a Robot Coupe, and with guidance from Chef Grant in Culinary preparation, and modified textures from Cathy Walter RD, she developed our program into the success it is today.

 

What we didn’t anticipate was Sandy’s dedication and attention to detail.  Not just pureed textures, but combinations as well.  Rice pilaf with a tri-color blend of pureed rice, carrots, and peas, flavored with soy sauce and vegetable stock.  And a layered Shepherd’s Pie with mashed potatoes and seasoned meat.  Her molds are beautiful, and nutritious.  Residents and their families, remark on how delicious the meals look and taste.  Sandy makes the whole department shine, through her dedication to quality and serving the needs of our residents.

Christina Bodanza, CDM, CDP
Director of Dining Services
Christian Rest Homes

Puree Program at Christian Rest Home

 

Another graduate of our Culinary Tech training program, veteran Dietary Aide Felicia Warners created Chicken Cordon Bleu; complete with layers of ham and chicken with a moist crumb crust, and vegetable rice pilaf mold. The presentation was breathtaking. 

The Culinary Tech/Puree program has been a terrific opportunity to involve employees in stepping up to the next level, developing recipes and proceedures for a taste experience previously unknown to residents on modified diets, and in skilled nursing care.

 For the Techs, it segueys the skill level into back of the house operations, bringing with them the buy-in and compassion developed from working front line with residents. This is a combination that has bought about outstanding results, both in quality of food, and employee engagement and empowerment. A win-win combination, especially for the residents!