Cooking Activities..???

[mawbell 0]

Microwave Butter Toffee

 

Sprinkle 1/2 c sliced almonds in a 9 inch circle on very lightly sprayed

baking sheet. Rub the inside top 2 inches of a glass bowl with butter.

 

Place 1/2 c butter in the bowl. Pour 1 c sugar onto the butter, being

careful not to get the sugar on the sides of the bowl. Add 1/2 tsp salt

and 1/4 c water. But DO NOT STIR! Microwave on high for 8-10 min or

until it is the color of light brown sugar. Pour over almonds. Top

with 4 oz milk chocolate chips. When cool, break into pieces.

_______________________________________

 

s'more brownies

 

This recipe is embarrassingly easy (and deeelicious)- in fact, it's

barely even a recipe. It came with something I bought from Pampered

Chef. Here's what you do:

bake some brownies

cook 5 minutes less than the recipe (box) says take the brownies out of

the oven, and cover the top of them with:

crumbled graham crackers

crumbled hershey bars

mini marshmallows (this is all to taste, of course... I use a lot of all

three!) mush everything down a bit into the tops of the brownies and

return the pan to the oven.

Cook 5-7 more minutes, just enough time for the chocolate bars to melt

and the mallows to brown a bit.

Pull 'em out and eat!

Orange S'More Tart

 

Ingredients

2 cups graham-cracker crumbs

6 tablespoons butter, melted

1/3 cup orange marmalade

3/4 cup heavy or whipping cream

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate squares, chopped

2 tablespoons orange liqueur

1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)

1 jar (7-1/2 oz.) marshmallow cream or 1 package marshmallows

Chocolate-covered graham crackers or chocolate graham-cracker pieces

Candied orange peel, for garnish

 

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degree F. Combine graham-cracker crumbs, melted

butter and marmalade in a medium bowl. Press mixture onto bottom and 1

inch up sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Remove

from oven; let cool.

 

2. In a small saucepan, heat cream on low heat until almost simmering.

Whisk in chocolate, liqueur and orange zest until smooth. Let mixture

cool slightly. Pour cooled mixture into graham-cracker crust. Gently tap

bottom of pan on counter to settle mixture evenly. Cover and chill for 2

hours or overnight.

 

3. To serve, dollop marshmallow cream over top. (If using marshmallows,

place on a nonstick cookie sheet and heat in oven until tops just begin

to brown. Remove from oven and arrange as desired over tart.) Top with

chocolate-covered graham crackers and sprinkle on orange peel. Makes 12

to 14 servings.

 

 

Note: If you are adverse to using orange liqueur, either leave it out

or substitute frozen orange juice concentrate (thawed).

 

 

Dreamsicle Mousse

 

1 box sugar free orange jello

1 bx sugar free white chocolate instant pudding

1 small can of Mandarin oranges ( drained )

1 8 oz. tub of fat free cool whip

Dissolve jello in 1 cup of hot water. Add 1 cup of cold and stir well

and let sit about 5 minutes. Beat the pudding ( dry ) into the jello

with the mixer, until well blended.

Add the mandarin oranges and fold in the cool whip. Chill several hours

before serving.

[Vanessa 0]

I was recently at a meeting for AD's and someone was talking about cooking in a bag that works great for low functioning residents. Apparently, all of the recipes in this cookbook require measuring the ingredients into a ziplock bag and then everything is mashed together. I thought I heard it was produced by a company called Elder House(sp?, but I cannot locate it on the internet. Has anyone used this method or know where I can locate the cookbook or recipes? Thanks! Vanessa

[lllucas 0]

Hi, Vanessa! :-)

 

This idea sounds great! However, like you, I could not find any reference to Elder House, Elderhouse, or Elderhaus which had anything to do with plastic bag cooking. There are a few plastic bag, zip lock, ziploc recipes on the net, but most of them seem to be either ice cream or trail mix.

 

I did go to the Reynolds web site and found a bunch of foil bag recipes using Reynolds Oven Bags and Hot Bags. Here is the link:

 

http://www.reynoldskitchens.com/reynoldski...ecipes&prodID=6

 

It isn't exactly what you describe, but it is cooking in a bag.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Linda Lucas, AD ;-)

[wonytineres 0]

You can order a book titled "Cooking for Lower Funtioning" from Nasco. It has in the bag receipes and alot of other great ones. If enough folks are interested I would be happy to post a few of the receipes on this site, that would enable folks to see/try the receipes before you buy the book- it is $35.00.

[kingsfan 0]

Vanessa. I have that specific cookbook. I took it to work but in the next few days I will get you the info. I used it when I was working in a SNF, but I now work in a Memory Care unit and we haven't tried it yet. If you e-mail me I will get you the info.My address is alan_asano@yahoo.com

 

Take Care and I will get it to you soon.

 

Alan

[hcornell 0]

Hello!

 

The book you are seeking is called "It's In The Bag Cookbook" by Marion P. Thomas. It is available through ElderSong Activity Resources for $12.95. The website is www.eldersong.com

 

Hope this helps!

Heide

[Vanessa 0]

Thanks to all who replied! I ordered the cookbook and just received it - I can't wait to try out some of those recipes! >Vanessa

[Guest Guest_melete]

do you do cooking activities.....??? in the past i have doen them mainly as a demonstration..with aromatic type ingrediants they can smell etc..etc....

 

now i am feeling the pressure by management for the residents to be doing the cooking....??? i have talked about infection control issues etc...but they aren't interested in that..they want the residents to do some cooking...sooo now i am looking at doing cup cakes.....pre made..that each resident who wants to can ice and decorate.......

 

how do you facilitate your program around the infection control issues..???

 

 

thanks in advance..

[Guest Guest_KateAA]

First, I am glad that your management team is up on the new guidelines. As they really have meeting the needs and interests of their residents in mind. So I am guessint that your residents really like to cook. And have requested more cooking classes.

As for infection control, we have never had a problem with it as we have all the residents who want to cook and prepare the food wash their hands before touching the food. Those that can't wear gloves. With over 20 years of cooking everything from steaks to fancy cakes we have never had a problem. We bake and cook and the residents peel the food, slice, dice, mince, knead, stir, fry, boil and mash!

The trick is to have everyone wash up befiore they start cooking. Including staff.

[Guest Suzi]

Today we made graham crackers flags. We first covered the cracker in white icing, next put blue icing in corner, put red icing stripes and sprinkled some star decorations on the blue part. They loved it. They were the only one that touched their cracker. You can make egg salad with giving each of them a boiled egg, a small package of mayo and a small package of relish. They can mix their own no one else will touch it and they can eat it on crackers. To make parfaits give them individual pudding cups, smashed oreos, and cool whip. They can layer it into cups. They love smashing the oreos.

[Stacy 0]

My residents love to do cooking. We make sure to wash their hands, and wear gloves. We never had a problem with it. I wish every year that they would give me my little kitchen for the residents. That way the food doesn't have to be cooked off the floors.

 

We will also incorporate it into our big events. They will have a cooking group in which they prepare the food for that event. They love it. They are always talking about how "that is what we made."

 

Take advantage of mangement's push, it's well worth it.

 

Stacy

[Guest Guest_melete]

thanks everyone for your input.....*S*..most appreciated

 

just to clarify..i am in Australia....and i work in a high care facility....50 bed...2 floors....mostly dementia......they are mixed..all wandering round the place etc...i have 2 SMALL lounge rooms..that double as activity rooms and their dining rooms....it is rough going...near impossible to do some activities...i am the only activity person there

 

anyways we did the cup cakes and they went realy well.....the icing and decorating was great...it works on the individual level.....so thanks for the individual ideas...i am thinking...vegemite on crackers would prolly work well too.....once again thanks to all.!

[Guest Guest_melete]

just to add...a few years ago i worked in a LOW care facility...we would make pickles and all sorts of things....their was a resident who was able to chop the vegies each day for the chef....high care in australia is nursing home level...low care is hostel...different functioning levels..

[Guest Guest_AggieTiff]

Sometimes I think I have the most pampered (their background) residents....they like to WATCH me or a caremanager cook.....but they really rearly get involved. They love to smell it, watch it, eat it.....but not cook or clean. Some do but the culinary club has never been very popular here. I have done everything from making something elaborate to just decorating things...and they like the decorating things easiest....esp if I say we are doing it for the children, hospital, "up stairs" residents....you know charity for someone else. :roll:

 

Most of the time the Exec Director here will take that as "her" activitiy and make something....like durring the summer she makes home made ice cream.

 

One thing the residents have found interesting is the pre boxed desserts and dinners. they like to talk about how easy we have it compared to them.... I will )on purpose) act like I am amazed that they did not ALWAYS have things so easy. So they can go on and on about how spoiled the younger generation has it.

 

Sometimes I have teh culinary club do double duty as our cultural activity each month and we will make something from another country.

[Guest Guest_Karen]

I always had a hard time with cooking activities due to lack of coroporation with the dietary staff. Especially what budget does the food come from Activities or Dietary.

 

I have done the Chef Presentations and they worked splendidly!

 

But I think that the cooking club is very important - great reminiscing and sensory stimulation!

 

Karen

[Guest Guest]

I did this with a small group of res. both low & high functioning. We made mini pizzas. Each res. gets 1/2 of an english muffin & they fix the pizza up how they want. In thecenter of the table is pizza sauce, pepperino(sp?), cheese, olives, ham, etc. Once they have it made I placed in the microwave for 30 or so seconds. They love this!!! Watch out some will try to pile everything on it in hugh amounts.

I also discovered that the women love making pies! All of the ingreidents are bought prior to activity & everyone has a specific task.(we made several at a time) Once the pie is assesmbled it was sent to dietary & they cooked it for us. Then later in the afternoon an activity was held where the ladies could serve the other res. pie & coffee. They loved to brag that they made these pies & the praise did wonders for them.

 

Pennie

[Guest Guest]

Sometimes I think I have the most pampered (their background) residents....they like to WATCH me or a caremanager cook.....but they really rearly get involved. They love to smell it, watch it, eat it.....but not cook or clean. Some do but the culinary club has never been very popular here. I have done everything from making something elaborate to just decorating things...and they like the decorating things easiest....esp if I say we are doing it for the children, hospital, "up stairs" residents....you know charity for someone else. :roll:

 

Most of the time the Exec Director here will take that as "her" activitiy and make something....like durring the summer she makes home made ice cream.

 

One thing the residents have found interesting is the pre boxed desserts and dinners. they like to talk about how easy we have it compared to them.... I will )on purpose) act like I am amazed that they did not ALWAYS have things so easy. So they can go on and on about how spoiled the younger generation has it.

 

Sometimes I have teh culinary club do double duty as our cultural activity each month and we will make something from another country.

hi there.....sounds we have had similiar experiences.

 

i think it depends on what level of care and the management teams aswell....oh lordy knows...i start a job and then not long after new management comes in...completely different focus when it comes to activities...flexibility i learned quickly..hehehehe..and seems i will be getting new management sooner than i expected...so who knows..maybe i will be back here soon..saying..COOKING is out the window..LOL...........i have always enjoyed the cooking programs.....but within the context of what you have too...........enjoy!!

[Guest KIM]

HI I WORK IN A SNF WE HAVE A SECURED UNIT FOR ALZHIEMERS 90 RES AND A NOTHER UNIT WITH 80 RES.

WE HAVE COOKING ONCE A WEEK IN BOTH UNITS. WE MAKE TURNOVERS, PIZZA, FRUIT PIZZA, PIGS IN A BLANKET, UPSIDE DOWN CAKE, COBBLERS, CUP CAKES, WE EVEN MAKE THE CAKE FOR OUR MONTHLY BIRTHDAY PARTY.. THE MORNING OF THE PARTY WE HAVE COOKING WHERE WE -ME AND THE RES- MAKE THE CAKE THAT WE WILL EAT AT THE PARTY THEY LOVE IT. WE ALSO MAKE HOME MAKE TORTILLAS, COFFEE CAN ICE CREAM, BUTTER, PIZZA POKETS, PUMPKIN PIE CAKE, THE LIST GOES ON FOREVER THEY ARE ALL EASY TO DO WITH SMALL GROUPS OR LARGE GROUPS. WE HAVE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH INFECTION CONTROL LIKE OTHERS HAVE SAID WASH AND WEAR GLOVES THE RES LOVE TO FEEL USEFULL LIKE THEY HAVE DONE SOMETHING AND IT IS A GREAT FEELING TO SEE HOW PROUD THEY ARE OF THEMSELVES TO HAVE MAKE IT. AND IF ONE OF THE RES CANT DO IT THEMSELVES THERE IS ALWAY A RES THAT DONT WANT TO MAKE ONE BUT WOULD LOVE TO HELP THE OTHER RES AMKE THEIRS IT IS ALL GREAT ......HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS MY E-MAIL IS MAGIOCTIGER2004@SBCGLOBAL.NET I WILL BE MORE THEN HAPPY TO HELP YOU IF I CAN TTFN KIM

[Guest Guest_AggieTiff]

Something that one of the Care Managers (what we call CNAs) in our Memory Care neighborhood does is make "Frapachinos"...almost like those at Starbucks. I forgot about this.... She gets ice cream and coffee and chocolate syrup and blends it all together and then tops it with whipped cream and whatever toppings she can find (carmel, sprinkles...whatever). She is very resourceful when it comes to these things. the residents love this....we talk about how everyone is always rushing around these days and it usually comes around to someone saying that it is a shame that we are so busy that we have to go out to starbucks for coffee....well in their days the wife made the coffee befor the hubby went to work..bla bla bla.... They say of of this while slurping up every last drop and enjoying it. :pint: This is a good mid morning activitiy....really not cooking but in the Texas Summer it is close enough. 8-)

[Melete 0]

Something that one of the Care Managers (what we call CNAs) in our Memory Care neighborhood does is make "Frapachinos"...almost like those at Starbucks. I forgot about this.... She gets ice cream and coffee and chocolate syrup and blends it all together and then tops it with whipped cream and whatever toppings she can find (carmel, sprinkles...whatever). She is very resourceful when it comes to these things. the residents love this....we talk about how everyone is always rushing around these days and it usually comes around to someone saying that it is a shame that we are so busy that we have to go out to starbucks for coffee....well in their days the wife made the coffee befor the hubby went to work..bla bla bla.... They say of of this while slurping up every last drop and enjoying it. :pint: This is a good mid morning activitiy....really not cooking but in the Texas Summer it is close enough. 8-)

i love this!!!

 

my residents have never heard of star bucks..but my mind is filled with ice tea treats for our aussie summers.....hmmmmm..milkshakes too ...and the list goes on..*S*

[Guest Pat Wesley Cincinnati Ohio]

I have been cooking for my residents for 21 years. We peel apples. potatoes, snap green beans, make bread. I use my electric skillet to make fried corn bread, chilli, pancakes, omelets, . I use a deep fryer to make deep fried bisquits, deep fried cheeses apple dumplings. I use a hair net, always gloves. We have a taste test for new items out and use the mircrowave. I find that families usually stay and help me a lot. This is national hot dog month. I am fixing a lot of hot dog dishes ie: corn dogs, sauerkraut dogs, cheeese and chilli dogs. My e mail is vincepatw@aol.com if you need mor i9nfo. Ever try a dump cake? they are great,fruit pizza, pizza on pita bread in a convection oven.

[Guest Guest_Imzoop]

We had so much fun today in our cooking activity! I purchased 3 packages of the mini grahm cracker pie crusts and 5 packages of "Sugar Free Cheese Cake Instant Pudding" mixes, by Jello. The residents were able to work in small teams of two or three, each with a box of pudding, milk to measure out, bowls, wisks, etc... Two of our very high functioning residents cut up the strawberrys, sprinkled in "Nutrasweet" and gently turned the strawberries to coat. The residents spooned the pudding into the mini pie crusts and topped them with the strawberries. As soon as the pies were finished the residents were able to eat them. Several staff members are planning to go home and make these for their families because they do taste very good.

 

An old and fun receipe is to mix cake batter. Fill a flat bottom ice cream cone 1/3 to 2/3 with the batter. Microwave for a minute or two. (Microwave until the batter no longer bubbles. The cake batter should rise a bit above the rim of the cone. Let cool and frost. They look like real ice cream cones. Test a few at first to get the exact amount of batter, and microwave times down as each microwave is different as ech mix of batter.

 

I would appreciate more fun and easy receipes.

[Guest His Princess]

:-) I just talked to one of the residents today. She ask me a question about the cooking group. She ask me what we do. I then got it out of her that she wanted to cook some Collard Greens and Corn bread and some lima beans. So I said to her. Lets do it! If thats is what she is realy wants to make lets do it because that is what she desires to do. We have been blessed with a full size Range and Refridgerater so why not. I have told others who have asked me about the Stove and cooking that they can use it as long as they turn it off and clean up after themselves. I work at an Assisted Living and the seniors there are very independant so a lot of them are able to still cook however they only have a microwave and a mini fridge. The seniors have been blessed with the biggest Activity Lounge I have ever seen. I had a 60 piece community orchestra there for a christmas concert there was room for all the orchestra members, their instruments and most of the resaidents. we have 96 residents. Anyways find out the interests of the seniors you work for and incorporate it into the monthly calendar. It is a part of our job to find out their past interests and professions, what they used to like to do and to encourage them to continue in their interests even in an Assisted Living Facility. One lady used to be in the local orchestra as a violinist, I encouraged her to get her violin out and practice for a concert for her neighbors. She now plays once every 2 months. Another gentleman used to love to paint, when he retired he retired from painting. When I first visited him he showed me all the paintings he had done in the past and I encouraged him to start painting again. Well he went to an Art store in the area bought an easle and he has been painting ever since and the paintings are just beautiful and his Dr has told him he is now legally blind. Another lady has played the harmonica since she was 10 and is now playing for her neighbors. Find what they like and encourage them to pick it up again or continue. Sorry this is so long.

[Mandyatscr 0]

Here is a recipe that Im going to try with our new and improved cooking club. Im Mandy, and I am the AD for a 114 bed SNF in western Pa. In our facility we have a memory lane ( dementia) unit that is equipped with a full size stove. Once a week on we are going to take people from the regular population back to memory lane and let them work with the patients on making things to eat. I am going to try this recipe, but have to use egg beaters for them due to a policy about no eggs in the shell at the facility.

 

ZIPLOC OMELETTE

 

This works great!!! Good for when all your family is together ! The best part is that no one has to wait for their special omelet!!!

 

 

Have guests write their name on a quart-size Ziploc freezer bag with permanent marker.

 

 

Crack 2 eggs (large or extra-large) into the bag (not more than 2) shake to combine them.

 

 

Put out a variety of ingredients such as: cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc.

Each guest adds prepared ingredients of choice to their bag and shake.

 

 

 

Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up.

 

 

Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes.

 

 

 

You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot. For more, make another pot of boiling water. Cut open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed.

[Pennie 26]

In reply to:

I always had a hard time with cooking activities due to lack of coroporation with the dietary staff. Especially what budget does the food come from Activities or Dietary.

 

I guess I had it lucky in that my best friend was the Dietary manager at a facility I worked at. She told me that her department has a monthly budget that was for my dept. or could be used for activities. :-D If we don't use it then it then it gets used when she/he is over budget or one of the other depts. will get it for some function or other. :-x After being told this I noticed every facilty I worked at &/or consultated at had this fixed into their budget as well. So AD's start asking about this budget :idea: Once I discovered I had it I fixed it so that I could use the vendores that Dietary used & would order my bingo treats, party supplies, 1:1 cart items, etc. from them. They would deliver my supplies to my office on the same day that dietary got theirs & my invoice was seperate from dietary. Something else most facilities have is a seperate budget for your office supplies, another one for the newsletter/calendars. Be sure to start asking questions we have more money accessible to us that we are told about &/or aware of. Pennie :hammer: