Commerce East – Happy Holidays!!

Here at Commerce East, we are in the holiday spirit. We are preparing for our holiday party on Wednesday, December 21, 2011. Cookies are being baked and gifts are being prepared. In our Seasonal Creations class, Staff C asked clients to bring in favorite recipes and they were compiled into our very own Holiday’s Cook Book.

Here are a couple recipes:

 

Nut Goodie Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

¾ cup peanuts

¼-1/2 cup mini marshmallows

Directions:

Melt chips in microwave 1 ½ minutes on high.

Add peanut butter and microwave an additional 30 seconds and let cool.

In an 8 x 8 buttered pan, add peanuts and marshmallows then pour chocolate mixture over top and chill for 1 hour.

Enjoy!

Baked Corn

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp flour

1 (15oz) can of corn, drained

2 eggs, well beaten

Directions:

Heat oven to 400º

Boil ¾ cup milk with butter and sugar. Dissolve flour in ¼ cup milk then add to pan and stir until it’s a thin white sauce.

Add to drained corn in a 1-1.5 quart baking dish.

Mix in eggs until blended and bake for 1 hour.

Serve hot.

Feel free to share your favorite holiday recipe with us. Enjoy the holidays and have a wonder New Year!!

Westside winter fun ideas 12-16-11

It’s that time again!! Winter is here to stay, so let’s get out and enjoy the the fun. The Twin Cities has several actrivities thru out the winter for all to enjoy. Two of our favorites are:

 Target Holidazzle – December

Thrilling the crowds on Nicollet Mall from

12th Street

to

4th Street

, Target Holidazzle continues Thursdays through Sundays until December 18. It's the last weekend of Target Holidazzle, with only 3 parades left this season!  Brave the wind chill and watch street side, or keep warm in the "Hot Seats" or in the downtown skyways

 St Paul Winter Carnival- JanuaryFor ten glorious days, there is a Carnival and joyous celebration in St. Paul -- feasting, dancing, fun and frolic reigned over by Boreas and the Queen of Snows, along with the four Winds, who were each accompanied by a lovely Princess from the realm of Boreas. Klondike Kate, a lady of song and merriment, adds her sassy but enchanting voice to the festivities by singing songs of desire and sentiment.
On the 10th day of celebration, Vulcanus Rex and his Krewe stormed the magnificent ice castle and confronted the King's Guard. Upon the good counsel of the Queen, Boreas bade farewell to the people of his winter capitol in the interest of peace and goodwill, and returned to dwell among the gods of Olympus. Boreas and his court looked forward to the time when summer's warmth would once again relinquish its hold on the realm and the frosty atmosphere of winter would prevail.

Westside Helpful Winter Hints

Winter is here and it's time to take a little extra care to stay safe and healthy! There is no cure for the common cold or flu, however there are proven ways to help increase our chances of warding off the sniffles.

1- Nourish your body by eating well-balanced healthy meals.

2- Clean and disinfect your work area.

3- Getting plenty of rest and drinking lots of fluids are two important ways of keeping colds away.

4- Dress with layers, so you can remove clothes if you're too warm or add layers, if you're cold. Sweaters and Sweatshirts are good.

5-  Wear a winter coat everyday,     hats, gloves and boots too!

6- WASHING HANDS is the most important way to prevent spreading the germs.

If the doctor prescribes an antibiotic you must take the antibiotic for 24 hours before returning back to work. You should be fever free for 24 hours also before returning to work.

Commerce East – Changes, changes, CHANGES!!!

Commerce East has experienced many changes since the beginning of the month. On November 7^th, PAI implemented a new transportation; Newtrax. This is a collaborative enterprise between Phoenix Alternatives, Inc. and Merrick, Inc. to provide transportation for our clients.

The first day was, hmm, interesting. But, thanks to all the hard work from management, drivers, and staff, things are much improved.

With the changes in transportation, our daily schedule changed as well. Our clients arrive earlier, our work day starts earlier, and lunch time starts a little later. We now have a 10am break time in the morning and so far, the clients have accepted these changes extremely well.

We have staff changes as well. Commerce East has two new Service Designates and two new staff. We welcome them!!

On a sadder note, today is Staff G’s last day. She will be moving back home to further her education. We wish her well.

New Year is approaching so we thought we could start on some makeovers; checkout the following changes. 

 Staff O before

Staff O's drastic after

westside blog 11-16-11

Thanksgiving Traditions

Our class this week talked about all the different traditions we have as families for the holidays. Zerrox said her family friend is a gourmet chef and that he prepares a wonderful traditional meal every year. Smiley, Dolly and Sassy all said they have traditional Thanksgiving meals with  turkey, dressing, potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and of course  pumpkin pie. Most of us go to a family member’s house while a few brave members host the holiday meal. The group researched was to enjoy the Holidays while staying healthy.

Easy ways to make Healthier Holiday Food

* Cook the turkey with olive oil instead of butter & skip the dark meat.

* Switch the mashed potatoes for sweet potatoes. They are rich in fiber

            and low in calories.

* Have whole wheat rolls instead of white.

* Choose pumpkin pie for dessert, it has Vitamin A, Potassium and Beta Carotene.

* Drink plenty of water; it helps control your appetite by making you feel fuller.

* Eat slowly, it take 20 minutes for the brain to register you're full.

* Make sure to eat a healthy breakfast, so you're not starving before the Thanksgiving   meal, leading to over stuffing yourself.

* Avoid extra salt & butter. Try using garlic or other spices instead.

* Stop when you're full.

* And remember everything in moderation.

Commerce East – Fun Fall Festival

The fate of Pumpkin Head was predetermined. Our previous post documented the creation of our beloved Piñata; this week’s post will document his dismissed.

Check out the photos from our party:

The Decor

Pumpkin Head...before

During...lost some leaves

A dent

A tear

After

We had fun smashing the piñata. Here's what some people had to say:

“I gotta kick out of breaking the piñata.” – D.J. R

“I gotta a bigger kick out of the piñata.” – R

Feel free to share your fall fun activities with us.

Halloween Madness!

Commerce East – Pumpkin Head

We’ve learned on the East side that it’s never too early to plan for a party. In September, we started on our Piñata, which will be the main attraction at our Fall Festival party.

Check out our progress.

Staff S found some punching balloons and we decided to paper mâché it to create a pumpkin.

Staff S donning on a plastic apron.

Getting the paper ready.

Applying the wet paper onto the balloon.

All covered in orange tissue paper. Saves time on painting.

Growing hair. Staff S hot glued fall leaves onto the pumpkin.

As the leaves dried, our pumpkin got a perm.

Getting a face.

 Looks like an alien...

...with a Skeletor nose

We give thanks to Staff S and the arts and crafts group for making this Piñata. We will enjoy smashing it.

Changes

Our class has been discussing changes that occur in our lives.  Last week the Westside lost a good friend. Joe S. lost his battle with cancer. Many staff and clients attended Joe’s visitation discussed how much we miss him. We talked about our feelings and how it is natural and normal to feel sad and miss him. We also talked about the fun things he did.  We discussed how we lose friends and we make new ones through out our lives.

Another big change that is coming soon are the new busing/work schedule starting November 7^th. With this change will come an earlier start time for everyone- both staff and clients.  We want to remind everyone, daylight savings time starts November 6, and we all will need to set back the clocks. We are all looking forward to an extra hour of sleep. Sassy, Ms. Pacman, Linda Lu, Holly Berry and Webkin are not looking forward to shorter days and they are definitely not looking forward to the S-Word! Because with snow in the forecast winter can’t be far   away!         

Commerce East - Geodes

We broke our own Geodes!!

Before the smashing.

We used an old T-shirt to protect the floor and the geodes.

Smashing.

Oops, a little too hard

Success!!