Lighthouse cooks serve up help to elderly

Newsboy photos/ Sharon Kerr DEEP EAST TEXAS FOUNDATION cooks Alberta Samuels (above) and Mary Carter (above right) prepare an Italian dinner for Meals on Wheels.

In the kitchen next to the Lighthouse COGIC Ministries, the staff had to scale back their recipe for beef stroganoff to something like normal proportions- they are used to cooking for 40-60 people when they prepare a meal.

Mary Carter, Alberta Samuel and Linda Hunter work in a kitchen no bigger than the average home. The range is standard 30" four-burner household model, and yet the three of them manage to prepare and package or serve that many meals on a daily basis.

The packaged meals are delivered to about 45 Meals on Wheels recipients, and nine or 10 more seniors come in and sit down to eat, socialize and play games.

"We try to offer a nutritious, heart healthy menu," Carter said, "but we also try to find things to their taste."

Her plan includes a six week rotation of recipes like baked chicken and lots of casseroles. She said most elderly people grew up with fried, salty and sugary foods. The only thing her kitchen fries is catfish every Friday, and then they vary what they serve with it to include lots of vegetables and fruit.

The kitchen is run as part of the Deep East Texas Foundation, and has been serving meals since before Hurricane Rita, "and all during the time right after Rita," Carter said. "We never stopped."

Putting food on the table, however, is only part of the picture. Carter said the group who come in for lunch has grown steadily.

"They seem to enjoy sitting and having someone to talk to. One lady just loves getting out and visiting. We pick some of them up. Our handicap van can take two wheelchairs at a time, so that's a big help," Carter said. As seniors lose the independence driving, the social aspect becomes more important. Carter said the lunch bunch and staff have bonded and are branching out to other activities.

"In May we took some of them to the senior celebration at the Civic Center Lufkin and we're looking at other things we can do with them," Carter said. "And of course we are planning a big holiday meal with 'the works,' dressing and dessert and everything."

Ground Beef Stroganoff

By: Mary Carter
1 lb. ground beef
8 oz. sour cream

1 can cream of onion soup
2 cups milk
10 oz. egg noodles
paprika

Brown meat. Stir in soup, sour cream, milk and paprika. Simmer for 30 minutes. Cook noodles and drain. Can be mixed all together or pour over noodles.

This is a favorite at the Light House Church of God in Christ kitchen.