Sing Along

Once a month we have Sister Mary Ellen come and play the piano and so a sing along with the folks that was one of our clients favorites, they all love to sing!

Crafty Friday!

This was our Crafty Friday project, making Salted Dough Ghosts. Good exercise for those fingers. Everyone did there own variations of ghosts and other Halloween characters.

Salted Dough Ghosts:

Materials:
1 cup flour
1 cup salt
1/2 cup water
Bowl
Wooden spoon
Fine-point permanent black marker

Instructions:
Combine the flour, salt, and water in a bowl. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until smooth.
Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces and shape each into a ghost, flattening the base so it will stand up.
Microwave the ghosts on a plate one or two at a time for 20- to 30-second intervals until the dough is fairly firm (about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes in total). Let the ghosts cool (they can get quite hot).
Use a fine-point permanent black marker to draw on eyes and a mouth.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday to you.....Happy Birthday dear Ruth.....Happy Birthday to you!!

Ruth Taylor celebrated her 66th Birthday on Monday October 26th! We continued her celebration on Thursday afternoon with Birthday Jingo, Cake and Ice Cream. With all of her friends. Ruth has been a part of our program since July 2009. We are so happy you as a part of our program! Happy Birthday!

Yoga!

Every Tuesday morning we have Yoga at 10:30am, with Stephanie!

Halloween Celebration!

Tuesday October 27th, we had our 1st annual Halloween Celebration with the 4th residents. We played Halloween Jingo, Did a Cake walk, Had everyone guess how many candy corns were in a jar, and a costume contest. At the end they all enjoyed some sweet treats and lemonade. Everyone had a great time! Thank you for coming!

Movie & Popcorn

Monday afternoon the clients enjoyed watching, "The Greatest Show On Earth." It was the best picture in 1952, it sure was a crowd pleaser!!

Culinary Circle

This morning we had our Director of Culinary Services Sheila, and Kathy came and do a food presentation for us. She showed the clients how to make Eggplant Lasagna with no salt being that we all need to watch our salt intake, we were all kind of hesitate at first thinking WHAT NO SALT?! There is no way that this can be good and on my goodness it was the best thing we had ever tasted! I would definitely make it for my family. It was a very easy dish to put together. Everyone should try it! We all had a great time learning how to make it, Thanks again Sheila and Kathy!

Eggplant Lasagna

Serves 6; 4x4-inch piece per serving
If you can, prepare this hearty lasagna a day ahead. Its flavors will be enhanced, plus all you'll need to do for dinner is toss a salad and make a quick fruit dessert while the casserole bakes.
Ingredients
Vegetable oil spray
6 dried lasagna noodles
3 cups chopped peeled eggplant
1 medium green bell pepper diced
1 large onion chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves or 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dried crumbled
3 medium garlic cloves minced
2 8-ounce cans no-salt-added tomato sauce
2 teaspoons low-sodium Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds (optional)
1 cup fat-free or low-fat cottage cheese
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons shredded or grated Parmesan cheese

Cooking Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 12x8x2-inch glass baking dish with vegetable oil spray. Set aside.
In a large stockpot, prepare the noodles using the package directions, omitting the salt and oil. Drain well.
Meanwhile, lightly spray a large nonstick skillet with vegetable oil spray. Heat over medium-high heat. Cook the eggplant, bell pepper, onion, dried basil (if using fresh basil, add with the tomato sauce), and garlic for 10 minutes, or until the eggplant is soft, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium if the mixture starts sticking to the skillet.
Add the tomato sauce, fresh basil if using, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and fennel seeds. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the sauce has slightly thickened and the bell pepper is soft. Remove from the heat.
To assemble, lay 2 noodles lengthwise in the baking dish. Spread a scant 1 cup eggplant mixture over the noodles. Spread 1/3 cup cottage cheese over the eggplant. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup mozzarella. Repeat the layers twice, ending with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella. Tuck in the ends of the noodles if overhanging. Cover the dish with aluminum foil.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Sprinkle with the Parmesan. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes to let the cheese melt and make cutting easier.
Cook's Tip
When using fairly small amounts of cheese on top of a casserole, cover the dish with aluminum foil during the baking period to prevent the cheese from overcooking and drying out. Run the casserole under the broiler for a few seconds if you want to brown the cheese lightly.
Nutrition Analysis (per serving)
230Calories
4.5 gTotal Fat
2.5 gSaturated Fat
0.0 gTrans Fat
0.5 gPolyunsaturated Fat
1.0 gMonounsaturated Fat
15 mgCholestrol
351 mgSodium
34 gCarbohydrates
5 gFiber
10 gSugar
15 gProtein
231 mgCalcium
573 mgPotassium
Dietary Exchanges
1 1/2 starch, 2 vegetable, 1 lean meat

Coffee and Chat!

Every morning when our client arrive we have a buffet set up on our counter with coffee, tea, cereal, muffins, toast and fruit. Start the day off right with a good breakfast and good chat with a friend. This was a special day we had two students from Bethel University who are Graduting in May to be nurses. Good Luck ladies, hope you enjoyed your morning with us!

Making Scarecrows!

We had a small group create some scarecrows to sit outside our entrance!

National Chili Month

This month is National Chili month. On Tuesday afternoon I had some of my ladies busy making some yummy chili and cracklin corn bread. We all enjoyed the chili and cornbread for our afternoon snack!

Chili

3/4 pound ground beef (85% lean)

1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Healthy Request® Condensed Tomato Soup

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 can (about 15 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained

4 cups hot cooked regular long-grain white rice, cooked without salt

Directions:
Cook the beef, onion and chili powder in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until the beef is well browned, stirring often. Pour off any fat.
Stir the soup, water, vinegar and beans in the skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cook for 10 minutes or until the mixture is hot and bubbling. Serve the beef mixture over the rice.
Tip: This dish is delicious served topped with shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese.

CRACKLIN CORNBREAD

1 1/2 c. corn meal

1/4 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 lg. egg, lightly beaten

2 c. buttermilk

1 c. cracklings

Combine corn meal, flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl: add egg and buttermilk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in cracklings. Place in a well-greased, 10 inch cast iron skillet in a 450 degree oven for 4 minutes or until hot. Remove from oven; pour batter into skillet. Bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday Dear Betty....Happy Birthday to you!!

Betty celebrated her 75th Birthday on Monday October 19th, 2009. We were so happy to see her on Tuesday, We continued the celebration with all of her friends here in "Dayaway". Betty has been a a part of our program since January 2008, we are so happy to have you as a part of our program!

Autumn Joys!

This fun little poem below was the insirparation for our fun craft project. I had gone out in the morning to the park across the street (Mounds Park) to gather all diffrent sizes and shapes of leaves. Each person had watercolor paint, paper and a pile of leaves. They painted the leaves and pressed them on to watercolor paper. After we enjoyed some wonderful warm apple cider, donuts and some good reminiscing.

Autumn Joys

By Mabel Duch

Yellow leaves, golden leaves,
Red and orange and brown.
I love to see the colored leaves
Before they tumble down.

And when they’ve fluttered through the air,
Lie upon the ground,
I like to scuff then with my feet
And hear the rustling sound.

I like the smell of cider
Warming on the stove,
Apple odor mingled
With cinnamon and clove.

I like the tastes of autumn,
New apples tart or sweet,
And slowly roasted chestnuts.
These things are fun to eat.

I like the feel of autumn wind,
A cool and gentle breeze,
Softly blowing on my face;
Then dancing with the leaves.

The special joys of autumn,
I’d like to keep them here.
Though they must go, I’m glad to know
They’ll come again next year.

National Food Bank Week!

Last week was National Food Bank week. We made signs and attached them to boxes and placed them in different locations around the Marian of Saint Paul Campus. We are very impressed with the amount of food we have collected. Thank you to everyone who donated. We will be taking a group out on Tuesday afternoon to drop all of the food to the local food shelf.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you....Happy Birthday to you....Happy Birthday Dear Fay...Happy Birthday to you!

This lucky lady is celebrating her 68th birthday on Tuesday October 20th, 2009, with her daughter who lives down in Florida. We will be celebrating her birthday upon her return with all of her friends here! Fay has been a client of "DayAway" since May 2006! We are so happy you are a part of our program! See you soon, we all miss you!

90 Years Young!

Happy Birthday to you....Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday Dear Rudy....Happy Birthday to you!!!!!!

Rudy celebrated his 90th Birthday on Sunday October 18th, 2009 with all of his family and friends! It was so nice of him to stop by today so we could give him his gifts and birthday cake from all of his friends here. Rudy has been a client of "DayAway" since July 2002. We are so lucky to have you as a part of our program!

Crafty Friday!

Our ladies love to do all kinds of crafts. So, we have made Fridays our day of all kinds of craft projects. Here, one of the clients is painting a butterfly that will go onto a window or a door so the light can shine through and show all the pretty colors. Another client decorated a bag with some fun designs in puff paint.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday Dear Thomas...Happy Birthday to you!

Thomas has been a client of the Adult Day Program since May 2008! We were so happy that he joined all of his friends here in "DayAway" to help celebrate his 84th birthday today! We are so lucky to have you as a part of our program!

Yummy Caramel Popcorn Balls!

It is National Popcorn Poppin' Month! So we assembled a group of some of our lovely ladies together to make some yummy Caramel Popcorn Balls for themselves and any loved ones who would like some as well. They all had a sticky good time!

Caramel Popcorn Balls

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups unpopped popcorn
1/4 cup butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


DIRECTIONS
Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to a 4 quart saucepan, and heat over high heat. When oil is hot, add 1/2 cup of popping corn. Keep pan moving constantly. When corn stops popping, remove from heat. Place popped corn in oven to keep warm. Repeat until all corn has been popped. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan with a candy thermometer inserted, combine butter, sugar, and corn syrup. Stir well and bring to boiling over medium heat. Stir in condensed milk; simmer, stirring constantly, until thermometer reads 238 degrees F (114 degrees C). Stir in vanilla.
Pour caramel over popped corn and stir to coat. Butter hands lightly; shape popcorn into balls about 3 1/2 inches in diameter.

Tie Blankets!

Cold weather is here to stay! We had made some tie blankets over the summer. Our Deacon saw them and thought it would be a great idea for us to make some tie blankets for our Chapel here, so we spent a couple of mornings making 4 tie blankets. What better good way to spend a cold morning than making warm fuzzy blankets!

Afternoon Dance!

All we had to do was turn on a little Polka music and the clients break out in dance; they can't sit still. So they have to get up and do a little polka before we eat our afternoon lunch.