Quick Bites & Incites – August

Industry Incite

With labor shortages continuing in many areas, Senior Living Dining Services can help to cut costly overtime and maintain a high level of service in many ways.  The safety, consistency, and overall quality provided by some convenience products can help streamline operations when staffing is tight.  Here are 5 ways that Dining Directors in Senior Living can create top-notch dining experiences with limited staffing resources:

1. Familiar convenience foods: pre-portioned products like burgers help mealtimes stay on track- take only what you need and heat them through speedily to have dinner start on time. Residents will appreciate the taste and tenderness that these foods impart!
2. Premade casseroles and sides: You don’t need a lot of cooking experience to pop a frozen lasagna, mashed potatoes, or mac & cheese in the oven. While these products may appear to cost more than their component ingredients, heat & serve options are delicious, consistent, well-accepted by residents, and easy to prepare for new kitchen employees.  They’re also a huge time-saver!
3. Diced vegetables and salad mixes: fresh or frozen, having the chopping done for you can save immense amounts of time and avoids extra knife work among staff who are still getting their bearings
4. Bake-from-frozen rolls, biscuits, and desserts: simply placing pre-portioned, expertly crafted dough products onto sheet pans & popping them in the oven means residents will experience freshly baked goodness even without a professional baker on site.
5. Disposable sanitation options: using sanitizing wipes that require no chemical measuring or testing are time-savers. But more importantly, these products help to ensure the safety: of staff, because they aren’t handling unfamiliar chemicals, and of residents, because food safety & sanitation will be upheld to the highest standards, even when staffing is tight.

Supplier Spotlite

Incite is happy to partner with Sara Lee Frozen Bakery, not only because of their world-renowned desserts, but because they keep ALL residents in mind when developing recipes.  Sara Lee Frozen Bakery has recently released recipes specifically for residents living with dysphagia and requiring IDDSI level 4 or 5 textured foods.   From cheesecake to pound cake, Sara Lee Frozen Bakery is helping making life’s moments a little sweeter for residents with dysphagia!  Reach out to Incite today to be sure these products & recipes are on your Order Guide!

Recipe Quick Bite

Courtesy of our friends at Pacific Seafood! – Shrimp Cocktail (Coctel de Camarones)

There are SO many days in August when it’s too hot to cook! For this cooling summer recipe, fresh garden produce combines with light & refreshing chilled shrimp for an end-of-summer appetizer or meal.  Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb. cooked & peeled coldwater shrimp
• 2 Tbsp salt, plus more to taste
• 1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper
• ¾ cup ketchup
• ¾ cup clam juice
• 2 to 3 Tbsp lime juice (or to taste) Mexican hot sauce, to taste
• 2 Roma (plum) tomatoes
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 medium-size cucumber, seeds removed, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 small white onion finely chopped
• 2 medium avocados, peeled, pitted, and chopped
• 1 cup chopped cilantro, loosely packed
• lime wedges, for serving
• cilantro springs, for serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine salt, pepper, ketchup, clam juice, lime juice, and hot sauce.
2. In another bowl, combine shrimp, tomatoes, diced onion, jalapeño, cucumber, celery, avocado, and cilantro.
3. Pour dressing over shrimp and vegetable combination, toss to coat.  Serve in large, wide-rimmed glasses with a few shrimps on top. Garnish with a lime wedge and cilantro springs.

Visit: https://www.pacificseafood.com/recipes/ for more ideas!

Team Member Highlite

This month we’re getting to know Michael Dragone, Co-Founder/Managing Director, at Incite.

Here are 3 things you didn’t know about Michael:

1. Michael and his wife Isa live outside of Boston with their 2 kids: James is 22 and Nicole is 28 (Nicole is getting married on 12/31/22!)
2. The Dragone’s are die-hard Boston sports fans: Go Pats, Bruins, Red Sox, and Celtics!
3. They love being in the kitchen almost as much as they love going to concerts.  This year, Summer concerts include Zac Brown and Dave Matthews!