Hello there, neighbor!
Thank you for joining us for another first. Our first newsletter! That we intend to post on the 1st of every month. We are ecstatic to be able to document our growth and show you more about our plans for the future. Now, this first one is on the house, but we do intend to start a paid monthly subscription to help the mission to feed our community. You’ll still get free monthly emails about our most recent potluck and the one coming up, but our fun and informative content beyond that will be for our paid subscribers. Ya’ll we hate to even be this way, but we gotta pay the bills somehow.
Look What We Did!
The rain seemed to wait for May this round, but it gave us enough of a break that we were able to have an amazing potluck. Complete with flower crowns, plant bingo, and tye-dye tees. We made a a lot of new friends and look forward to making even more in June!
Where to Find us Next…
This next pop-up won’t be much of a potluck, but we will still be doing the good work of serving our neighbors. If you’d like to stay even more in the loop you can join our Discord server for live updates on plans, volunteer needs, and anything else that might come up. Our nonprofit wants to operate in direct collaboration with our community to ensure a positive impact, so we highly encourage those in Hamilton County to lean in if they feel called to do so.
Casia’s Corner
Hi! I'm Casia! I like to cook and bake. Creating in the kitchen is a very big hobby and love of mine. I like to create chaotically and just see what happens though so I hardly ever actually measure anymore or set a real timer, but for just you guys I have added average measurements and times! We thought adding a recipe corner would be good because we know the struggle of having to decide what to make on a budget, and still trying to be semi-healthy about it. And don’t worry…most all of my recipes will include enough for leftovers. We are big on leftovers in this house of 4. Leftovers are great to use for lunches if you are trying to rein in the spending some.
Also, feel free to substitute any ingredient in my recipes to fit your diet and preferences!
Breakfast: I make this recipe personally as a breakfast meal prep during the work week. Seems like a lot but splits up pretty well across the week.
Breaky Squares Egg Bake
12 Eggs
1 lb. cooked preferred meat (I use turkey kielbasa sausage diced up so I can skip the cooking part. But I have used sausage and bacon and all are delicious!)
2 cups of preferred shredded cheese (I love a good sharp cheddar)
1 can of Rotel (can skip but I like a ‘lil tomato kick in it)
1-2 cups of shredded Spinach
1 tbsp. of Salt
1 tbsp. of Pepper
Instructions
Heat oven to 375.
If using bacon or sausage precook as preferred.
Mix everything together in a casserole dish and bake for about 25-30 minutes.
*I then cut into squares to last the week and heat and eat about 2 with a piece of toast and your good until lunch! (square size per your discretion).
Lunch: Pimento Cheese & Chicken melt
1 package of preferred Pimento cheese. (We use one with added peppers because we like a kick)
1 lb of Shredded chicken or Rotisserie chicken package.
*if cooking and shredding you own chicken add seasoning.
1 tsp Salt, Pepper, Garlic and Onion Powder, and Parsley
Mix with cooked Shredded chicken
Take bread and spread a layer of Pimento cheese on inside of both pieces.
Add layer of chicken and cook it like a grilled cheese!
Serve with fries, chips, side salad, cup of soup. We have tried all options and all are great. Obviously some options are better suited for a weekend lunch at home type options.
This can also be prepped and kept like you would chicken salad. Mix all the shredded chicken and pimento cheese together. Add to bread, tortilla, bed of lettuce, or eat as a dip with crackers , celery or peppers.
Dessert: Simple Fruit Dip
1 tub preferred Yogurt. (Flavored, Greek, etc.)
1 tub sugar free Cool Whip (from the freezer section)
1 tsp of Vanilla Extract (for added flavor)
Instructions
Mix all together until smooth
Serve with various Cut fruits.
Apple slices, Grapes, Strawberries, Pineapples.
Mixture can be used as a Yogurt Parfait base, in Smoothies, or as just a dip.
Add preferred protein powder to mixture for a protein dessert if needed based on diet.
Snack: Health(ier) Buffalo chicken dip
1 lb of Shredded chicken (I usually grab a preshredded Rotisserie package out of the deli for this dip.)
1 package of plain cottage cheese
3/4 cup Buffalo sauce ( I usually just pour until I like the shade of orange)
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
I like to flavor to the max but for the basic recipe seasons are not a "necessity"
1 tsp of Garlic and Onion powder
1 tsp of Parsley
1 tsp of Cajun seasoning
Instructions
Mix everything and add to a casserole dish
Preheat oven to 375 and Bake for about 20 mins or until Bubbly and melty. (I do this if I'm immediately serving but this dish does not have to be hot to eat.
Serve with chips, crackers, Celery, Cucumber, whatever you want to use as a dipper.
Dinner: Zesty Mac
1-2 boxes of preferred Mac and cheese (I sometimes use 2 boxes of Mac if I want the meal to stretch to include multiple sets of leftovers but 1 box works perfect for the meal at hand also.)
1 lb of ground turkey or beef
1 package of Taco seasoning (if using a homemade Taco seasoning blend I would use 2-3 tablespoons)
1 can of black beans
1 can of rotel
1 can of corn
1 head of Broccoli chopped. (I often switch this out for a steam microwave bag of Broccoli and heat before mixing)
Instructions
Cook the Meat over medium heat until brown and season. (I like to add all of the cans to the meat right after to start warming.)
Cook noodles and add cheese.
Mix meat, cans and Broccoli with the Mac and cheese and serve.
Serves nicely with a side salad. (We often use pre-made salad kit bags for our side salads in dinners)
Yap Sesh
For our first yap sesh let’s start by telling you guys how we got here. Some people have already heard this once or twice, but I imagine we’ll be telling it a few times. My name is Jessie Meroney and I grew up right here in Soddy Daisy, TN. I am the oldest of five and my mother mostly raised us on her own. Single, disabled due to hearing loss, and five children by the age of 30. It was a lot for a singular person to deal with, and I learned that the systems meant to help us weren’t always so helpful. We had our fair share of struggles and it was those experiences that led me towards going to school for Elementary Education and then eventually switching to Social Work.
I always knew I wanted to work in some field that would help children, and then I got to college and completed an internship at Chattanooga Room in the Inn, a local transitional shelter that has actually had huge influences on the type of work I seek to do. But it was while I was there that I came to learn that these adults dealing with homelessness often were struggling because of unhealed parts of their child selves or other factors that have carried with them for their entire lives. And this just added more fuel to the passion I felt for wanting to help make some sort of difference in my corner of the world.
Eventually, I got my first job as a case manager and quickly came to realize that much of Hamilton county resources are centered around Chattanooga and the downtown areas. I also came to realize that I am just too much of a busy-body to sit at a desk and offer resources. So, I decided to become a resource to Soddy Daisy and surrounding areas by offering free meals and other resources to anyone in need. We have been accomplishing this so far in the form of monthly pop-up events, but we hope to start fundraising in the VERY near future to finally establish a location where we can accomplish this goal and show off our culinary skills. Casia and I both deal with food sensitivities and finding food we can eat around here is a struggle. So, not only do we intend to offer free meal options for people in need, but we will have various gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, SOY free, whatever free options you can think of…we intend to serve it.
At the heart of this, our mission is to feed and clothe our neighbors in need while fostering community resilience through inclusive, accessible mutual aid practices. We welcome our “average” members of the community to join our team today and lean in to the conversation. Our motto is, “You’ll always have a seat at our table.” And what we mean by that is we want members of the local community to feel welcome to come as they are and share a meal with friendly neighbors. Neighbors who have a desire to help and serve others regardless of their backgrounds or their “raising”. I have this idea of a network of helpers that I like to refer to as the Mutual Aid Mycelium.
“Mycelium: A single walled multicellular network that conveys information and nutrients over long distances.”
The Garden House seeks to build this by connecting our friendly neighbors and their various skills with those in need of a little aid. So, if that interests you at all we encourage you to come join us at the table. At the moment you can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or Youtube. And if you want to volunteer or be more involved in live updates you can join our Discord server. Anyways, all that to say The Garden House is here to not only connect with its community, but maybe help it connect more with itself a bit.
We look forward to seeing what we grow together in all our endeavors.