Cheese Cheese Cheese

America is best known for cheeseburgers, French fries and apple pie. Taking a journey to Europe “Cheese Style” was going to be an adventure for us. Brie, Havarti and that poor cheese that has the worst and cheesiest reputation Limburger cheese was on the menu.  An informative group discussion was held on all the facts and history on these cheeses. Never mind that, everyone was focused on the tasting of our subjects. The presentation was making it even more difficult to concentrate. Finally, the time had come to welcome our subjects to our taste buds. Superb, delicious, delightful were just a few of the comments made. Even “Limburger Cheese” got a thumbs up. As the demonstration came to an end, we were thrilled to watch a beautiful musical performance with Alexandria the harpist. That afternoon, everyone felt as if they were transported to Europe for a magical affair.

Fun With Food Juniper Style

As we enter the month of June, we celebrate “Food” (our favorite month). Our residents and team members were excited that it was time once again, to create our own Edible Arrangements. Traditions are something that we are proud of here at Juniper Village. This one is always one of our favorites. Our mugs were carefully selected and the fruits and cheeses were cut in beautiful shapes. Grinding our potting soil (oreo cookies) was done by one of our residents. Coloring our coconut, in the green colors, to resemble grass was fun. The chatter in the room was full of energy. Everyone was ready and eager to get started. Eating some of the fruits and cheeses were very tempting, however, we kept our temptation under control. As we assembled our skewers, we saw how pretty they were turning out. Inserting them into the mugs, after spreading our soil and grass, was the final touch. The smile on everyone’s faces showed how proud we all were. Some of our residents decided to give their creations to some of the team members. It was unanimous that everyone had a great time. 

June 2017 Events in Cape Coral, FL: Live In Wellness

“You are what you eat.” The old adage is now truer than ever. Good health is largely dependent on good nutrition, so much so that doctors trace many physical and emotional ailments back to a diet deficient in vitamins and minerals. Eating a well-balanced diet is a major part of encouraging long life, lowering the incidence of disease, and helping sick people recover. On the flip side, inadequate nutrition and poor quality foods can generally cut life span and open us up to many illnesses and disease. In effect, food is medicine per Webster's definition of medicine: "The science and art dealing with the maintenance of health and the prevention, alleviation, or cure of disease." Food acts as medicine - to maintain, prevent, and treat disease.

With this month’s Alive in All Seasons focus on food, we’d like to give you a prescription for a healthy diet: breakfast daily (do not skip); meals x3 (at least) daily; foods from each of the food groups per meal daily. The food pyramid defines the food groups as grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy and proteins. The amounts vary according to age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity level. Here’s a good guideline to start you on your way. Make half your plate fruits and vegetables. Make half your grains whole grains. Move to low-fat and fat-free dairy. Vary your protein routine and eat and drink the right amount for you.

Join us as we continue our focus on healthy aging by shedding light on our hydration program with healthy snacks and juices, and demonstrate how food and nutrition help us to Live in Wellness from a dietitian’s point of view.

Our fabulous June 2017 events in Cape Coral, FL at Juniper Village at Cape Coral include our:

§  Fourth Annual Edible Floral Arrangements as we encourage everyone to come for a very fun, interactive event and learn to create your very own floral masterpiece with fruit and cheese, and during this exciting event, we will discuss the importance of the variety of fruits we eat each day in keeping us healthy; each year we get better and better and are almost masters at making our luscious fruit kabobs on June 8^th at 2:30 pm. (RSVP by June 6^th at 239-542-3121.)

§  Educational Event Managing Emotions for a special presentation and discussion, as we welcome our guest speakers from Comfort Keepers and The Dubin’s Center for Alzheimer’s, because in follow up to our dementia sensitivity class, many individuals asked for additional information on how to manage emotions when dealing with the behavioral and cognitive changes that comes with caring for individuals with dementia, and this educational event will give you the tools you need as light refreshments are served on June 14^th from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

§  Food Around the World as we welcome Community Partners in Caring to our annual event as we share scrumptious samplings of foods from around the globe during this great event for mingling and meeting other colleagues with a focus on serving our seniors, so be sure to bring your business cards to exchange on June 22^nd from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm.

We look forward to sharing our June 2017 events in Cape Coral, FL at Juniper Village at Cape Coral with you as you Live In Wellness.