Frost Manor cod entrée fuses Italian flavour with a panko crunch

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Chef’s rustic Italian lemon pepper panko cod is so delicious it was entered into OMNI’S March Madness contest

A delicious cod entrée created by Frost Manor chef Laurie Carmichael brings the light flavour of cod together with the tangy taste of Parmesan cheese and a crunchy seasoned panko crust.

To make this favourite meal, Laurie begins by mixing panko crumbs, margarine, dill, parsley, lemon pepper and grated Parmesan cheese. Next, she coats the fish with the panko mixture before popping it in an oven heated to 350 F.

When the cod fillets reach an internal temperature of 160 F, they are removed from the oven and plated. Laurie serves the crunchy cod fillets with creamy mashed potatoes and a side of peas.

This meal goes over so well at the Lindsay, Ont. long-term care home that Laurie submitted her recipe as an entry in OMNI Health Care’s first annual March Madness recipe challenge.

Chris Weber, OMNI’s operations manager of nutrition and food service, says the March Madness contest, which saw 16 recipes compete in a bracket contest where votes were cast each week between April 14 and May 6, was close.

The winning entry was a Mediterranean omelette, created by Josephine Goddard at Country Terrace, which won “by a very thin margin,” Chris says.

OMNI launched the first annual March Madness recipe challenge in March in recognition of Nutrition Month in Canada.

Chris came up with the idea to encourage nutritional care managers and cooks to showcase their most-loved recipes and to highlight the high-quality meals served in OMNI homes.

Throughout March, nutritional care managers and cooks prepared their favourite meals, plated them and took photos that were sent to head office. The photos were accompanied by the name of each meal and its recipe.

If you have a story you would like to share with The OMNIway, please contact the newsroom at deron(at)axiomnews.com.

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Frost Manor makes staying hydrated fun and tasty

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Offering special drinks is promoting ‘around 100 per cent participation’ when the treat cart comes around

The Frost Manor life enrichment team has been using “summer fun” as a theme throughout July and August and tying in good hydration practices to keep residents cool and healthy.

Team members develop themes each month that are reflected in the activities they create, and “summer” is the obvious choice for a theme for July and August, says life enrichment co-ordinator Amy Whitehead.

In addition to the Lindsay, Ont. long-term care home being decked out with beach balls and summery decorations, team members are focusing on encouraging residents to drink more fluids to promote hydration during the summer months, Amy says.

On top of the everyday emphasis placed on helping residents stay hydrated, team members have been going around the home each Sunday with the treat cart to hand out special drinks to residents that are not part of the regular menu, such as milkshakes and slushies.

Additionally, on really hot days, the team will host extra happy hours where they will come up with a non-alcoholic “fun drink” for the residents to enjoy and help keep them hydrated.

The residents are loving it, and having special drinks available to residents can go a long way in promoting hydration, Amy says.

“They always tend to like a drink even more if it looks fancy or sounds fancy,” she tells The OMNIway.

“We get around 100 per cent participation when we take the treat cart around.”

On its website, the Government of Canada underscores the importance of staying hydrated, especially on hot summer days. The site also notes that older adults who stay well hydrated are stemming safety risks.

“Drinking liquids throughout the day is especially important for older adults,” the website states.

“Dehydration can lead to dizziness, fainting and low blood pressure which may put older adults at risk for falls.”

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‘Balloon badminton’ praised for engaging residents of all abilities

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Resident-favourite activity at Frost Manor fills physical, social and emotional needs

Every time the balloon badminton program is running at Frost Manor, life enrichment co-ordinator Amy Whitehead keeps her office door open because she doesn’t want to miss the heaps of laughter flowing from the activity room.

Balloon badminton is a long-standing program at the Lindsay long-term care home, and it’s an activity that not only brings lots of laughter from residents, it’s also one that residents of all cognitive and physical abilities can enjoy.

Because residents of all abilities can succeed at balloon badminton, the program always has many residents eager to participate, Amy says.

The activity is simple: residents gather in a circle holding oversized racquets that are used to hit balloons and to keep them from touching the ground. A life enrichment aide will stand in the middle of the circle to help keep the balloon in motion.

Many times the residents will count to see how many times they can hit the balloon with their racquets before the balloon drops to the ground.

The activity helps residents maintain hand-eye co-ordination and reflexes. Since balloon badminton is played in groups it promotes social engagement, and the laughter that results meets emotional needs.

“I’m not really sure exactly what it is about this program the residents like so much, other than it is a lot of fun, but they just laugh and laugh and laugh,” Amy tells The OMNIway.

“It’s really nice when this program is going on; I keep my door open because I love to hear them laughing.”

Amy says balloon badminton is a program she would recommend to other long-term care homes looking to engage residents in an enjoyable activity, adding it’s also an affordable program to create.

“It doesn’t cost much and it works well,” she says. “It’s really simple but it’s a feel-good program where everyone leaves smiling and laughing.”

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Frost Manor chef turns to resident-favourite meal for contest entry

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Made-from-scratch beef patty with mushroom sauce is also a dinner Jeff Nedeljkovic enjoys preparing

Jeff Nedeljkovic didn’t have to look far to find a meal to enter in OMNI Health Care’s first annual March Madness recipe contest; he went with a favourite among the residents of Frost Manor.

And the meal Jeff chose, his beef patty with mushroom sauce, is also a dinner he enjoys preparing for residents. Everything that goes into this version of hamburger steak is homemade as well, he says.

“I chose this meal because it is a favourite among our residents, and I like to make it extra special for them,” Jeff, the Lindsay, Ont. long-term care home’s nutritional care manager, says in his submission form.

“Everything is from scratch.”

To make this meal, Jeff mixes fresh ground beef with onion, eggs, bread crumbs and ground black pepper. He then shapes the meat mixture into patties.

What makes this dish extra special is the sauce that covers the meat. Jeff makes a roux from flour, garlic powder and melted margarine, and then adds beef stock to give the sauce a rich flavour.

Chris Weber, OMNI’s operations manager of nutrition and food service, says the March Madness contest, which saw 16 recipes compete in a bracket contest where votes were cast each week between April 14 and May 6, was close.

The winning entry was a Mediterranean omelette, created by Josephine Goddard at Country Terrace, which won “by a very thin margin,” Chris says.

OMNI launched the first annual March Madness recipe challenge in March in recognition of Nutrition Month in Canada.

Chris came up with the idea to encourage nutritional care managers and cooks to showcase their most-loved recipes and to highlight the high-quality meals served in OMNI homes.

Throughout March, nutritional care managers and cooks prepared their favourite meals, plated them and took photos that were sent to head office. The photos were accompanied by the name of each meal and its recipe.

If you have a story you would like to share with The OMNIway, please contact the newsroom at deron(at)axiomnews.com.

If you have feedback on this story, please contact the newsroom at deron(at)axiomnews.com.

Frost Manor residents enjoying weekly barbecues this summer

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‘We are really trying to take advantage of the good weather and getting residents outside more’

After two years of not being able to host barbecues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Frost Manor is making up for it by offering cookouts to residents every Friday throughout summer.

The Lindsay, Ont. long-term care home also has a new barbecue, so team members have been wanting to make the most of it, says administrator Neil MacDonald, who’s spearheading this initiative.

Neil says he got the idea to host weekly barbecues from his days working in the nutritional care department at another OMNI Health Care home, Riverview Manor, where life enrichment co-ordinator Sherry Baldwin organized weekly barbecues during summer.

“When I worked there they did this during the summer months and the residents just loved it,” he tells The OMNIway. “So we cook food on the barbecue and we put on music and the residents have fun in the sun and they really enjoy it.”

The barbecues, which are held on the home’s patio, are offered on a rotating basis, with different groups of residents each week to ensure everyone can attend without having the groups get too large.

Due to COVID-19 protocols that were in effect for two years, many activities and events had to be suspended. With restrictions now easing, having weekly barbecues is one way to give back to residents some of the fun they were missing, Neil says, adding the setup on the patio allows team members to cohort residents according to provincial protocols.

While Neil says Frost Manor has hosted summer barbecues in the past for residents, the home has never had these events on a regular basis.

“I think we did it once or twice annually before, but we are really trying to take advantage of the good weather and getting residents outside more,” he says.

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A touch of Las Vegas comes to Frost Manor

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Team members are being applauded for the creativity they brought to casino-themed month

Frost Manor life enrichment team members are being applauded by managers for the hard work they put into organizing a month-long casino event that encouraged high resident participation and brought lots of fun and laughter to all.

Each month, the Lindsay, Ont. long-term care home focuses on a different theme for activities. For June, the theme was a Las Vegas-style casino. The life enrichment team spent several weeks up to the start of June preparing for this event, which included daily casino games as well as entertainment.

One of the favourite activities in the Frost Casino, as it was called, was a slot machine the life enrichment team made. Team members downloaded a slot machine app to a tablet. They then made a slot machine out of cardboard and placed the tablet into the cardboard housing so it looked like a real slot machine.

“The residents could then play slots – it was incredible,” administrator Neil MacDonald tells The OMNIway.

There were several other games created for the residents, including casino pong; take-a-chance, which is a poker-like game; and dart poker, a game that saw residents use Nerf guns to try to hit cards to make a hand.

Team members also made a photo booth for residents that was covered with images of playing cards and dice.

To add to the authenticity of the theme, life enrichment team members wore the vests casino dealers wear.

Throughout the month, team members kept track of all the residents’ scores from the games, with the highest scorers for each game earning a prize.

“This gave a little extra incentive for the residents to come to programming,” explains life enrichment co-ordinator Amy Whitehead.

One of the most creative moments during the month came when an Elvis impersonator who was scheduled to be at the home had to cancel on short notice.

Since no casino would be complete without entertainment, life enrichment aide Sarah Thayer made a guitar out of cardboard, and team members, with guitar in hand, performed Elvis karaoke for an hour.

“It was awesome that they were able to improvise on the fly like that and still provide entertainment for the residents,” Amy says.

“Everybody was laughing and had a great time. I was a very proud life enrichment co-ordinator at that moment.”

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PHOTO CAPTION: Frost Manor resident Martha Roy sits in a photo booth that was made for the casino-themed month the home recently hosted.

Radical! Frost Manor residents treated to ’80s theme day

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Trivia, entertainment and lots of pastel colours mark the event

Big hair, skinny ties and pastel colours were in fashion at Frost Manor recently when the Lindsay, Ont. long-term care home celebrated ’80s Day.

Every month, the Frost Manor life enrichment team organizes spirit days centred on a theme. For a theme day on April 28, the team chose the 1980s.

The day began with 1980s trivia for the residents. This proved to be a great way to spark reminiscing about famous names from the decade and bring out laughter about the trends of the time, says life enrichment co-ordinator Amy Whitehead.

“We really put staff and residents to the test with an ’80s quiz to complete as well,” Amy tells The OMNIway.

The life enrichment team also set up a whiteboard in the home’s main lounge where residents and staff members could write down their favourite 1980s memory or trend.

“Some of the answers included: big hair, bright colours, roller skates, Top Gun, and many more,” Amy says.

In the afternoon, residents enjoyed entertainment courtesy of musician Don Van Halteren, whom Amy describes as “a home favourite,” who played the accordion.

In keeping with the theme of the day, he dressed in “neon green” attire and included some 1980s tunes in the set, Amy adds.

Amy says the life enrichment team enjoys organizing theme days for residents and that the ’80s day proved to be a big hit.

“It’s always great to have these spirited days where lots of fun is had,” she says.

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PHOTO CAPTION: Frost Manor residents and staff are pictured here during the home’s April 28 ’80s theme day.

A taste of Mexico comes to Frost Manor

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Residents and team members celebrate Cinco de Mayo with activities, food and drink

It was fiesta time at Frost Manor on May 5 when the Lindsay, Ont. long-term care home’s residents and team members celebrated the famed Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo.

The event was marked by Mexican-themed food, games and beverages.

In the morning, residents played a “fiesta shopping game”, which was similar to a grocery-item version of bingo residents play, according to life enrichment co-ordinator Amy Whitehead.

For lunch, the nutritional care team prepared a Mexican-style meal that included chicken quesadillas with avocado, salsa and sour cream. This was accompanied by a taco salad, which Amy says was “a very popular choice.”

In the afternoon, life enrichment aides went around Frost Manor delivering mocktail sangrias to residents.

Cinco de Mayo – which translates to “fifth of May” – honours the Mexican army’s defeat of French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, during the French occupation of Mexico.

Throughout the event, residents and team members had their photos taken to capture the fun everyone was having, Amy notes.

“It’s very hard to tell with masks on, but I promise everyone is smiling,” she says.

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‘Why not beat the winter blues away with Tropical Day’

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Frost Manor sends residents to a warm beach during a fun and engaging daylong program

Even with the official coming of spring two days earlier, the cold winter weather was still hanging around in March, so the Frost Manor life enrichment team worked together to bring a sunny beach atmosphere to residents.

On March 23, the Lindsay, Ont. long-term care home hosted Tropical Day to make residents feel as if they were on a Caribbean holiday.

Everyone was encouraged to dress in their favourite warm-weather gear, and a large number of residents wore clothing such as tropical shirts and leis to help them get into the spirit of the day, says Amy Whitehead, Frost Manor’s life enrichment co-ordinator.

Team members decorated the home with colourful props that included palm trees and pineapples.

During the afternoon, a drink cart stocked with two types of tropical mocktails – strawberry daiquiris and piña coladas – that were served with paper umbrellas made the rounds to offer residents a refreshing taste of the Caribbean.

There was also a variety of tropical fruit provided as a treat that was both tasty and nutritious.

In the evening, life enrichment aide Taylor Davies hosted a hula chair-dance program for residents.

Although the mercury was still showing sub-zero temperatures and the skies were grey, inside Frost Manor the decorations, refreshments and activities helped make everything feel warm and relaxing, Amy says.

“It was a really great day,” she says. “As we say, ‘why not beat the winter blues away with Tropical Day.’ ”

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Frost Manor goes green for St. Patrick’s Day

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Residents and team members enjoy a fun day of activities, games and green beer

Frost Manor residents and staff members got into the spirit of toasting everything Irish on March 17 when the Lindsay, Ont. long-term care home celebrated St. Patrick’s Day.

The day included crafts, games, and, of course, lots of green beer.

In the morning, the home’s life enrichment team organized a program where residents made St. Patrick’s Day crafts and were provided with refreshments.

In the afternoon, team members played “truth or Blarney”, a game similar to Truth or Fib that saw life enrichment team members read out a sentence related to either St. Patrick’s Day or Ireland, and residents would reply “truth” if they believed the statement to be true or “Blarney” if they thought the sentence was a fib.

Later, a cart offering green beer was brought around to residents so they could enjoy a traditional pint on St. Patrick’s Day.

Since no St. Patrick’s Day celebration would be complete without costumes, residents and team members were encouraged to dress in green or wear St. Patrick’s Day-themed attire.

The St. Patrick’s Day celebration is an annual event at Frost Manor, and it is one the residents and staff members enjoy, says Amy Whitehead, the home’s life enrichment co-ordinator.

“Everyone had a lot of fun,” she says.

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