In our last blog post, we discussed how our staff at St. Anthony’s strives for excellence in everything we do. We highlighted a few key principles that drive our decision-making, work ethic, and care. There’s no getting around it: the people are what make St. Anthony’s so great—both from a leadership/staff standpoint, as well as our wonderful residents. But there is a close second to why we think this place is so great. And if not in second place, it’s at least very high on the list of priorities for any senior living center. This component relates to dining services and how we deliver high-quality meals for our residents on a day-to-day basis. When it comes to senior living standards, food should be of a great deal of importance.
Now, we’ve already touched on external restaurant options in our neighborhood—residents are not short on options when it comes to the Brookside area! Yet for convenience sake, we ensure residents have an option for delicious and nutritious eating right at home.
Let’s take a look at three core components to the dining experience at St. Anthony’s. From classes to carry out, you can’t ignore that any human’s day revolves around food. We’re not advocating for gluttony—just really good food alongside really good people.
Wine and Culinary Events
But before we even get to the food, let’s touch on our wine tasting events at St. Anthony’s! Many of our residents have a strong affinity for the Grape. And for those who are new to the hobby and lifestyle that is wine tasting, we help anyone learn to identify nuances of wine and the regions from around the world where they originate. Therefore, we make time and space for regular wine tastings and events among friends. A good glass (or two) of wine presents an opportunity to slow down at the end of the day and unwind. To sit and sip is only made sweeter alongside close companions—such is a resident’s experience at St. Anthony’s, should he or she choose to partake.
Moving onto something our residents can sink their teeth into, St. Anthony’s offers culinary classes for anyone interested in cooking and learning new recipes! From mere cooking demonstrations to small group classes, we have consistent options for residents to choose from. We also find residents love to make a “date night” out of this culinary event.
Call Ahead and Carry Out
When it comes down to logistics, what does dining look like on a regular basis? To borrow a description from the amenities page on our website:
“Residential living residents enjoy complimentary breakfast daily, and meal credits to use for lunch or dinner which provides flexibility and choice. Dine on your terms when it’s convenient for your busy schedule. Interested in enjoying more meals with friends? You have the ability to purchase additional dining packages.”
Beginning with the end of that paragraph, if you have questions about said additional dining packages, please contact us today! We’d love to discuss multiple options our residents can choose from. But the keyword with our daily schedule is “flexibility.” Senior living shouldn’t translate to a confined eating schedule, however, we do make food available at any time of the day.
Our eating options provide an opportunity for residents to call ahead or pick it up to go. In these spring and summer months, it’s a great opportunity to pick something up from St. Elizabeth’s Bistro, take a picnic blanket outside, and spend an afternoon with good friends and food.
The Importance of Senior Living Nutrition
And when we say “good food” we don’t just mean “healthy food” or “tasty food” . . . we mean a perfect blend of both! Who says you can’t treat yourself while maintaining a healthy diet. At St. Anthony’s, we believe our residents are entitled to enjoying delicious food while also possessing the options for quality fruits and vegetables at all times.
In fact, we believe so much in a consistent eating rhythm that it’s often where we point back to if residents are feeling “off” or having a bad day. Sometimes, they just need to sit down and snack or have a good meal before feeling better—ready to tackle the day ahead. In addition, we have staff members who are trained in nutrition and wellness and accompany any resident request pertaining to dietary requests such as low sodium, low carb, low sugar, gluten-friendly, heart-healthy and low cholesterol options.
A Final Checklist
At the beginning of this post, we alluded to another post where we discussed core principles for our staff and operations team. For dining, we want to wrap things up with a standard list of things we repeat early and often for new residents and old.
- • Hydrate and Hydrate Some More! Drinking water only gets more important as we age, so this is something we reiterate regularly at St. Anthony’s.
- • Fiber is Fantastic. It’s well known that senior living thrives on fiber-rich food. We have plenty of fiber-rich food options for all our residents!
- • Don’t Pass on Potassium. PLENTY of bananas to go around at St. Anthony’s. Potassium is pivotal for high-quality bone health and is also linked to reducing high blood pressure.
- • And Calcium of Course. Cereal and milk are obviously an option, but other sources of calcium are readily available to ensure another source for strong bones.
- • Can’t Get Enough Vitamin D. Vitamin D supplements are on hand in an effort to maintain bone density and protect against common diseases/illnesses. However, there’s no better source for Vitamin D than a fair amount of sunshine—we are BIG advocates for fresh air and sunlight.
Again, we mention that brief list because the health and wellness of our residents are at the very top of our priority list. We do not neglect the importance of food as it relates to our mental health. As for our St. Anthony’s community, we usually don’t have to pull anyone’s leg to eat on a regular basis.
Turns out, when you put an emphasis on food quality . . . your people will line up in droves.
