The Nashville Food Project’s Blog
McGruder garden is ready for spring!
Thanks to these ladies for contributing their artwork to the McGruder Community Garden. This space is now truly full of life in many senses of the word!
Thanks to these students from Glencliff High School for volunteering in the garden. They worked hard to dig a new plot in the orchard, and the community gardeners have since planted it with potatoes!
After planting spring crops and working together to get seed potatoes in the ground, the McGruder Green Thumbers gathered around picnic tables to relax and enjoy a delicious lunch.
Herbs!
Thanks to the Herb Society of Nashville for donating herbs left over from their annual plant sale! We were able to share these herbs with the community gardeners we support at McGruder FRC, Wedgewood Urban Gardens and the Refugee Agriculture Program. For more about the herb society, visit their website here: http://www.herbsocietynashville.org
Welcome Bees!
We are so pleased to join the growing movement of urban beekeepers in Nashville and around the world. We welcomed three hives into our two urban gardens this spring...
A happy honeybee forages on a cover crop of crimson clover planted at our Wedgewood Urban Gardens.
Go to your fields and your gardens, and you shall learn that it is the pleasure of the bee to gather honey of the flower,
But it is also the pleasure of the flower to yield its honey to the bee.
For to the bee a flower is a fountain of life,
And to the flower a bee is a messenger of love,
And to both, bee and flower, the giving and the receiving of pleasure is a need and an ecstasy.
Kahlil Gibran, “On Pleasure”
We are so pleased to join the growing movement of urban beekeepers in Nashville and around the world. We welcomed three hives into our two urban gardens this spring and the tens of thousands of bees that now call TNFP home seem to be happily adjusting, building comb and foraging for nectar. Bees pollinate seventy percent of human food crops which supply about ninety percent of the world’s nutrition. While we hadn’t noticed that the wild bees in and around our gardens weren’t doing their job, we thought it was a good time to properly build a home for our own honeybee populations.
Two top bar hives installed at our Wedgewood Urban Gardens.
Humans and bees have co-evolved for millennia and at this point we pretty much can’t survive without each other - which isn’t to say that we aren’t trying. Many factors play into the honeybee colony collapses around the globe but almost all of them are related to human-caused environmental degradations. One of the best things we can do to help the bees (and therefore feed ourselves) is to increase the genetic diversity of the existing bee populations by promoting (and doing!) backyard beekeeping.
As is true of so many things related to our work, our bees would not have been able to call TNFP home without the hands of many wonderful volunteers and friends. We owe special thanks to Stephanie Weinzapfel, Jamie Huling, and Linda Bodfish in addition to many other folks who supported this project along the way. For a photo essay of the first weeks of beekeeping see below. For more information about bees, visit https://spikenardfarm.org. Drop in to see our bees anytime!
Granola Truffles
This is the result of some creative work in our prep room. Remember our granola bar recipe...
This is the result of some creative work in our prep room. Remember our granola bar recipe from a couple weeks ago? We made a batch that came out a little too soft to cut and serve. Our meal prep volunteers put their heads together and decided to turn them into "truffles" by rolling them in crushed vanilla wafers. Voila! Instant perfect snack. We love the creativeness of our volunteers!!
Generosity!
This guy! Continued thanks to John Patrick of Foggy Hollow Farm who dropped off 30 dozen certified organic eggs for us to use in our meals. John is building a sustainable poultry network in our community and his enthusiasm for chickens is contagious! You can purchase his eggs, meat and chickens. Learn more at foggyhollowfarm.net
New meal prep times
Let's get chopping!
We are excited to begin a new partnership with the United Way’s SPARK program whose mission is to engage youth in consistent, structured physical activity; to promote movement; to advocate basic nutrition through education; and to provide accessible, cost-effective meals for the entire family two times a week. We are providing 36 families at both the Salvation Army and Bethlehem Center with two healthy meals per week. With this expansion of our meal program, we have added additional prep times and are looking for volunteers.
Two new prep times are available on Saturdays for 10 volunteers each session: 10am-12pm and 1-3pm. Monday prep is from 10am-12pm and Wednesday evening prep is from 5:30-7:30pm. Ready to get chopping? Sign up here. If you are interested in scheduling a group of 4-10 volunteers for a meal prep activity, contact Malinda at malinda@thenashvillefoodproject.org.
Ensworth School grows for our community
We love our partnership with Ensworth's 3rd grade classes. They purchase our seedlings through Project Grow, we help them plant their raised beds, and they donate the produce they harvest back to our kitchens. A pretty sweet deal on our end! We like to think they're gaining something as well: gardening skills and a fun, tangible way to give back to their community.
Turn, turn, turn
Feeling a little slouch after a long winter hibernation? Nothing gets the blood flowing like turning compost at our gardens. Come by anytime to see what's cooking in our compost pile!
Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
We received many generous donations of sweet potatoes this winter from Delvin Farms and enjoyed making this special main course dish served at many of our meal locations.
We received many generous donations of sweet potatoes this winter from Delvin Farms and enjoyed making this special main course dish served at many of our meal locations. This recipe feeds 50!
Ingredients:
50 small sweet potatoes, washed
10 lbs of carrots, roughly chop half and grate the other half
5 onions, roughly chopped
5 tomatoes, chopped
10 cloves (1 bulb) of garlic
2 tablespoons cumin
2 tablespoons tumeric
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
Freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste
3/4 cup olive oil
5 lbs ground beef
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh cilantro
Directions:
Prick sweet potatoes 2-3 times with a fork. Place on a foil covered baking sheet in a 425 degree oven for 45 minutes. Turn oven off after 45 minutes allowing sweet potatoes to remain in the oven for another 30 minutes.
Combine the chopped carrots, onions, tomatoes, garlic, paprika, tumeric, cumin, oregano, cayenne, salt and black pepper in a food processor; pulse until coarsely chopped. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, add the vegetable mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until dry, 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1 cup of water and cook, scraping up any brown bits with a wooden spoon, until the water evaporates, about 1 minute. Add the ground beef and cook, stirring and breaking it up into smaller chunks, until browned and cooked through. Remove from the heat.
Split the potatoes in half, scoop out some of the warm flesh and add it to the beef mixture; stir to combine. Generously fill each potato half with the mixture. Toss the shredded carrots with the cilantro, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar and salt. Top each potato with a dollop of the carrot slaw and enjoy!
Keeping it HOT!
What are those boxes in our food trucks?
Check out our latest food truck upgrade, courtesy of our incredible friends at Triumph Aerostructures! These insulated food carriers will allow us to carry more food for longer distances, just in time for a major expansion of our meals program.
Garden Teamwork
This candid photo captures two friends from Glencliff's International Teen Outreach Program as they hand off a bucket of seed potatoes. We truly love having these students in our garden--they bring so much joy and positivity with them every single time.
5 Ingredient Granola Bar
A recent donation of over 400 pounds of oatmeal, left us a bit overwhelmed but we quickly got creative. Here's some of the ways we used this healthy grain.
A recent donation of over 400 pounds of oatmeal, left us a bit overwhelmed but we quickly starting including this heart healthy grain in lots of things:
Adding oatmeal (instead of bread crumbs) to our meatloaf, in a streusel topping for our desserts and in our breakfast casseroles headed to the warming shelters were some of the first ways we used the oatmeal. We were looking for other creative ways to incorporate this wonderful gift and experimented with a Healthy 5 Ingredient Granola Bar that is a true winner. We tried a few different options, but ended up with one we all loved. We frequently include them in a weekly lunch to our friends at Front Porch Ministry.
In addition to the oatmeal, we’ll receive donations of ripe fruit from our Food Donation Partners. This fruit often includes bananas, strawberries, grapes and raspberries. The best of the fruit is included in our daily meals, but the extra ripe fruit is sliced and put in our dehydrator. Once this fruit is dried, we include this as a base in our granola bars!
Whenever we discover such a great way to use some of our excess, we just have to share the good news! Enjoy.
Ingredients
- 3 cups packed dried fruit (bananas, strawberries, grapes and dates work well)
- ¾ cup honey (or maple syrup)
- ¾ cup creamy peanut butter (or almond butter)
- 4 ½ cups rolled oats
- 3 cups roasted almonds, loosely chopped
Directions
1. Process dried fruit in food processor until small bits remain. It should form a “dough” like consistency.
2. Toast oats and almonds in 350 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes.
3. Place toasted oats, almonds and dried fruit in a bowl – set aside.
4. Warm honey and peanut butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir and pour over oat mixture, then mix, breaking up any fruit to disperse throughout.
5. Once thoroughly mixed, transfer to a half sheet pan (12X17) sprayed with non-stick spray.
6. Cover with a piece of parchment paper and press down hard until uniformly flattened. Cover with plastic wrap, and let set in fridge for 15 minutes to slightly harden.
7. Remove bars from pan and slice into 32 bars. Store in airtight container in the fridge.
Harvest Hands in the Garden
Harvest Hands youth volunteer regularly in our gardens, always looking forward to new experiences. See what they have been up to.
We love partnering with Harvest Hands, a nonprofit down the street from our Wedgewood Urban Gardens. Their youth come to the garden on a regular basis as part of their after-school programming. Look what they have been up to.
Sorrel is a sour-tasting herb and the youth who come to our Wedgewood Urban Gardens seriously cannot get enough of it! Beyond sour-flavored candy, people around the world use sorrel to make stews, salads and green borscht. Let us know if you have any creative suggestions for how we can incorporate sorrel into our meals!
The Harvest Hands students know just how natural Las Paletas popsicles are because they help add fruit and veggie waste to our compost pile almost every week. We love Las Paletas for sharing their compost and we love Harvest Hands for helping. Of course, we also adore the popsicles and the students on their own accord!
North Nashville Green Thumbers Welcome Spring
After a long winter of anticipation, the McGruder community gardeners (or Green Thumbers as they like to be called) came together last Saturday for the garden’s official spring opening. There are 17 raised beds in the North Nashville garden and every single one has been claimed!
by Madi Holtzman, TNFP Garden Coordinator
After a long winter of anticipation, the McGruder community gardeners (or Green Thumbers as they like to be called) came together on a recent Saturday for the garden’s official spring opening. There are 17 raised beds in the North Nashville garden and every single one has been claimed! In fact, we are considering building more beds to accommodate the high level of interest. The Green Thumbers are a wonderfully diverse group of people: multi-generation families with children of all ages, elderly couples who have lived in North Nashville for years, participants from the Hope for Health wellness program, and some people who came knowing no-one and left with new friends.
All community gardens allow people to grow their own food, but the level of community inherent to each garden can vary quite a bit. For some, the word “community” simply points to the fact that the garden is a shared space. But, in my opinion, the really special gardens have layers of community—a fabric of relationships among the gardeners that goes much deeper than simply growing vegetables in adjacent plots.
The most inspiring aspect of the Green Thumbers is the gracious, neighborly posture with which they approached the McGruder garden on day one. When I explained that everyone could paint a wood sign to mark their plots, there was a pause. Nobody wanted to be the first to run over and grab a paintbrush because nobody there was selfishly motivated. A few Green Thumbers specifically told me that they are growing for their neighbors; they will only eat the produce that nobody else wants. A few more Green Thumbers decided to share plots to save space for others who might want to join the garden. And Reverend John Beach, the elderly reverend who grew vegetables in every single bed last year before his neighbors were aware of the space, refused to take his own plot. He never believed that so many people would show up to garden at McGruder, and he now insists on sharing a bed with his wife to encourage the unexpected enthusiasm.
We look forward to supporting the Green Thumbers throughout the season with monthly educational workshops. You can teach people how to weed and seed and harvest, but creating a safe space for sharing food and relationships depends on the dispositions of the gardeners themselves. I am so grateful to work with this group of gracious, gentle people who are already transforming the McGruder garden into such a space.
Volunteer Reflection: A Second Helping
About 18 months ago, I began volunteering at The Nashville Food Project.
We often talk about how our meals work to build and develop relationships out in the community. It's clear to us too, that a rich and wonderful community is also created every week with our volunteers in our Prep Room, in the Kitchen, in our Gardens, and on the Food Trucks. Our volunteers' dedication, passion, and creativity shine bright every time they're with us. Jackie Jones is one of our regular volunteers in the Prep Room and had an idea to develop a "Second Helping" soup program for the residents at John L Glenn Residential Center. We wanted to share the inspiration behind this program. Enjoy Jackie's words!
Volunteer Reflection: Second Helping Soups
BY JACKIE JONES
About 18 months ago, I began volunteering at The Nashville Food Project. I was looking at various organizations on Hands on Nashville, and it sounded like a fun, meaningful experience that matched my passion for all things food. On my very first day I was struck by the sense of community and welcoming attitude of Sarah and Anne. By my third session, I realized I was receiving more than I was giving at my chopping station.
I signed up to go out on the Thursday truck run. I loved seeing the end process for the food that is prepared, and I immediately realized the sense of community that continues at this part of the process. As I continued going each week, I got to know the names of many of the residents at our stop. So much gratitude and good energy is shared between people, along with the delicious and healthy food. We began to observe the residents interacting more with one another, and taking care of neighbors who couldn’t make it down to get a hot meal. It became apparent that some of the residents are challenged to access healthy, easy-to-prepare food, especially during the winter months. I talked with Anne about creating a “second helping” – a reusable soup container filled with healthy, and already-available ingredients from our kitchen. The residents would be able to take it back, along with their hot meal, and enjoy it for another meal during the week.
It has been an interesting experiment! Everyone, of course, does not like soup. Orange is the least favorite soup color (unfortunate for us, because of the large number of sweet potatoes we usually have donated). Tomato, along with a few vegetables is a favorite. White bean soup is tolerated by many, and loved by a few. Some residents are still not sure what they are suppose to do with it, and the reusable containers usually forget to come back. The soup project may or may not continue, but it has opened up additional opportunities to understand the unique needs of the residents at this location. We know more of the residents' names and their personal histories because of the soup project. I definitely get a lot more hugs. The food is important, but again and again, I am reminded what it's really about is the relationships.
The MEAT Report
Several weeks ago, The Nashville Food Project got a call from an event coordinator at Opryland Gaylord asking whether we could receive a large donation of fresh meat (never been frozen) at the conclusion of the American Meat Convention. We were told the take would be something like a thousand pounds. Over the course of a few days, we got a plan in place to recover so much meat: organized volunteers, rented freezer space, counted vehicles, and purchased wax-lined boxes to be palletized. In a caravan of trucks and station wagons, our people arrived at the convention center last Monday evening, ready to pack up thousands of pounds of meat for inclusion in our meals.
As the conference was winding down, company reps began packing up, leaving all of their meat products on display for our team to pick up. In food project aprons, we went from booth to booth, boxing up pork, chicken, beef, turkey, lamb and veal, as well as some other exotic meats, like boar, buffalo, duck and goose. These were products that would have otherwise gone into the dumpster at the end of the night. Did you all know 40% of all food in our country gets wasted? And one person in every five people in Tennessee doesn’t have enough healthy food to eat? The wasteful nature of our economy is one of our most egregious sins, especially when we remember we are talking about actual life wasted—each animal's life an important part of God's inexhaustibly beautiful creation.
The Nashville Food Project boxed up 5,100 pounds of high-quality meat that night! Based on current outputs, this should be enough meat to get us through 10 months of meals shared with people in need. I am proud of the new challenges The Nashville Food Project is able to meet, thanks to the TREMENDOUS support from our ever-widening circle of friends. If you want to get involved in this joyful, life-giving, sometimes-messy work, email us, and we will find a place for you!
Strawberry Ricotta Bread
What to do with all our strawberries?! We recently received a beautiful donation of strawberries along along with a case of ricotta cheese. We found a delicious recipe for a tasty dessert bread and served it last week. The ricotta makes this bread low fat, moist and has a unique consistency that we all loved.
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 4 tbsp melted butter (cooled)
- 2 cups All purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, whisk ricotta cheese and then add eggs, beating until well combined. Add buttermilk, vanilla, lemon juice and cooled melted butter.
In another bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest. Add ricotta mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined and then fold in strawberries.
Bake in greased 9 X 5 loaf pan for 30-40 minutes.
No-Bake Dark Chocolate and Oat Clusters
Seasoned volunteer Chester recommended this diabetic-friendly dessert recipe and it's been a hit! This four-ingredient dessert is embarrassingly easy to make, but would look elegant piled high on a nice serving dish. The taste is decadent, but a small serving size keeps each cluster around 80 calories…
Serves 50
Seasoned volunteer Chester recommended this diabetic-friendly dessert recipe and it's been a hit! This four-ingredient dessert is embarrassingly easy to make, but would look elegant piled high on a nice serving dish. The taste is decadent, but a small serving size keeps each cluster around 80 calories! In our experience with this recipe, we've learned that it is easiest to form the clusters using an ice cream scoop, and then roll them in your hands to form uniform balls.
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1.5 cups peanut butter
- 1.5 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 1.5 cups low-fat milk
DIRECTIONS:
- 1. Place oats into large mixing bowl.
- 2. Heat peanut butter, milk, and chocolate chips in a saucepan over low heat until chips melt.
- 3. Pour chocolate mixture over oats and stir to combine.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a small ice cream scoop, form ball-shaped portions. Roll in your hands if necessary to make sure clusters stay intact. Place the clusters onto the baking sheet where they are not touching. Let set in fridge for 10 minutes before serving.
NUTRITION (serving size: 2 clusters)
- Calories: 160
- Fat: 8g (sat 3g, mono 3.5 g, poly 1.5 g)
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
- Protein: 5g
- Carbohydrates: 19g
- Sugars: 7g
- Fiber: 3g
- Sodium: 40 mg
Orange-Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry
One of our most frequent donations comes from the lovely people at Chipotle, who regularly donate their naturally raised, hormone-free grilled chicken and beef. It is easy to turn this meat into Mexican-inspired dishes, but we love finding ways to transform it into something totally new…
One of our most frequent donations comes from the lovely people at Chipotle, who regularly donate their naturally raised, hormone-free grilled chicken and beef. It is easy to turn this meat into Mexican-inspired dishes, but we love finding ways to transform it into something totally new! We made this Orange-Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry by layering cooked rice, Chipotle chicken, roasted vegetables, and sauteed bok choy and topping it all with a homemade stir-fry sauce. We then baked it in covered pans to seal in all the flavors. A sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds makes this dish truly special.
Orange-Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry
Serves 50
- 18 cups cooked brown rice
- 18 cups cubed grilled chicken
- 4 cups snap peas
- 6 cups carrots, chopped into coins
- 4 cups onions, chopped (divided)
- 6 cups cauliflower, chopped into small florets
- 16 cups fresh bok choy, diced
- 10 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 oz. soy sauce ½ cup orange juice zest of 1 orange
- 4 tsp powdered ginger
- 8 oz. honey
- 2 Tbl chili oil ¼ cup corn starch
- 32 oz. chicken broth toasted sesame seeds, for garnish EVOO, for cooking
Prep: Preheat oven to 375. Cook rice according to package instructions and divide among three large serving pans. Toss vegetables (reserve half of the onions to use with bok choy) in EVOO and place in pan. Do not add salt! (The soy in the sauce provides plenty of sodium.) Divide cooked chicken into pans over rice. Roast vegetables for 20 minutes in the oven..
Bok Choy: To cook the bok choy, heat EVOO in a large saucepan. Add 1 tbl of the minced garlic and cook until fragrant. Add remaining 2 cups onions and cook until translucent. Add a couple of dashes of soy sauce. Finally, add the bok choy to the pan, stirring continuously until leaves wilt. This is easiest when done in batches.
Sauce: Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch and chicken broth together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup soy sauce, orange juice, honey, ginger, chili oil, and orange zest. In a large pot, cook garlic in EVOO until fragrant. Add soy sauce mixture and heat until boiling. Pour in the cornstarch slurry and stir continuously until desired thickness is attained. If the sauce gets too thick, thin it with equal parts orange juice and chicken broth.
Thanks to volunteer Lloyd for helping us prepare this week's Cook for a Crowd!