A slice of bologna, a piece of salami, some "watered down" macaroni and a bun. It doesn't exactly conjure up the image of a Christmas Day meal.

And when a Regina woman went to visit her father at a seniors' care facility on the Dec. 25 holiday, she was shocked to see it on his plate.

"My thoughts are they could’ve done a little better than a piece of cold baloney, a piece of cold salami and some watered down macaroni," Darlene Mitchell told CTV Regina on Saturday.

"(This) does not meet any nutritional guide whatsoever, especially on Christmas Day, but any day."

The Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region stressed that residents of Pioneer Village were served a large traditional Christmas meal – including turkey and all the trimmings – earlier in the day.

"We have to take into account meals in general, so that would’ve been the (dinner) meal that followed a rather substantial, full and complete Christmas (lunch)," said Michael Redenbach, a representative for the regional health authority.

Redenbach says that because residents received an especially large meal at lunch, dinner was intended to be light. Dinners at the facility – which is the largest in Saskatchewan with 390 beds and 143 low-income apartments – are generally smaller, he added.

The provincial NDP have also chimed in on the cold dinner, saying that the meal fell short of acceptable standards for senior's care.

"The meal that was served on Christmas Day is absolutely unacceptable," said Opposition Deputy Leader Trent Wotherspoon. "It doesn’t provide the basic nutrition; it doesn’t provide the dignity that those in care -- that the seniors of this province, the builders of this province -- deserve."

The NDP is now calling for minimum-care standards in seniors facilities across the province.

Qu'Appelle Health Region says that menus are prepared according to nutritional guidelines, and registered dietitians are involved in the process.

But Mitchell says the quality of the meals served at Pioneer Village have "slipped under the radar," and that her father's Christmas Day dinner wasn't the first time food that at the facility wasn't up to snuff.

"My mom has started to mention she is unhappy with the quality, or what he is getting," Mitchell said. "She always says breakfast is good. But as the day goes on, the meals get less valuable or they're not nice."

With a report from CTV Regina