Newnan mom of 6 turns adversity into viral dishes cooked from the heart

A Newnan mother is using social media to share recipes, build community, and show what perseverance looks like.

If you're scrolling through your social media feed, you may have seen mom of six Tiana Carston turning everyday meals into special moments.

For Carston, watching her kids devour her kitchen creations is worth every spoonful.

"You see, it feels like a restaurant in here. I always set things up catering-style," Cartson said.

Known online as Tiana's Half Dozen, Carston has turned everyday meals for her family of six into an online movement, cooking from the heart and, along the way, inspiring others.

"Somebody followed us around the grocery store the other day, I kid you not," she said.

And it's not just the grocery store.

"We were at Texas Roadhouse, and this lady was like, 'Heyyyyyy,'" she said.

Getting to this moment wasn't easy. After a mass layoff, Carston found herself without a job and without a place to live.

"They were staying with my grandma, and I said, 'If we ever get a place again, I'm cooking for my kids,' because it was expensive being poor," she recalled.

At one point, she was sleeping in her car, parked near a gas station, just to keep her job.

"I said, 'Lord, if you ever give me a place again, I'll cook meals at home.' And that's when I started cooking, and that's how Tiana's Half Dozen started," she said.

Budget-friendly meals became a lifeline.

"I try to do like two to three hundred dollars a week, and then I divide that by seven," she said.

And everyone has a say at the table.

"If they don't like something, I don't make them eat it. They swap plates. It all ends up getting ate," she said.

Online and off, the message stays the same.

"That's my hashtag: cooking with love," Cartson said.

It's a philosophy posted on her fridge and lives in her kitchen. For Tiana and her half dozen, the table is full.

"When we were living in that moment, it was really hard, but we still kept a positive attitude. We cried, and we didn't understand, and we were all over the place, but I feel like that road led us here, and everything worked for our good," she said.

A road and a future, she says, has never tasted better.

You can follow Tiana's Half Dozen on Instagram.