Once a month, tenants at Cerenity Marian are treated to a meal planned by a fellow tenant.

It’s all part of Cerenity Marian’s Sunday dinner meal plan. “At the beginning of the month we draw one tenant’s name from a hat and that person gets to plan a Sunday dinner, with recipes of his or her choice,” says Sheila McClenton, director of culinary services. The tenant provides recipes to Sheila and the culinary staff converts each recipe to serve approximately 300 people. “Each recipe changes a little bit, but I explain that to the tenants before they supply me with their recipes. It has to be a reasonable one to convert,” says Sheila.

 Mary Garvey, a tenant at Cerenity Marian, was involved in planning one of the first Sunday dinner menus. “I had a lot of fun planning the dinner. It’s nice to have something different from time to time,” says Mary. Her menu consisted of Spanish rice, cauliflower salad and an applesauce cake. “Everyone really seemed to like the dinner, although I think people just like to taste food that’s a bit different every once in a while,” she says. “It’s something to look forward to; one Sunday out of the month you’ll be eating something totally different. It’s fun.”

We encourage you to try Mary Garvey’s Spanish rice recipe!

 Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1 cup white rice

½ lb. bacon

1 ½ cups chopped celery

1 ½ cups chopped onion

1 ½ cups chopped green pepper

1-10.5 oz. can of tomato soup

1- 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes

 Directions: Cook ground beef until browned. Make 1 cup of white rice per instructions. Fry and crumble bacon. Season to taste. Mix all ingredients together in large cake pan. Bake mixture at 350^◦ for 1 ½ hours. Cool and refrigerate overnight. Reheat at 350^◦ for 1 hour before serving.