My name is Erin Sands, and I am a homeschooling mother of five living on my mini-farm in Northport, New York. I began this venture because I am always encountering people who are struggling with fatigue, stress, and just feeling overwhelmed all of the time. I too used to feel that way until I took control of my health, and especially my hormones, through diet and lifestyle changes and now have the energy to do all of the things I want to do in life. I have always had a knack for being organized and know how to share very practical tips to help people declutter their life. I hope to build a community of people who return to their kitchens to send out good wholesome food that is shared at a table with their families. I believe that is so important and we have lost that connection. I started this business for people like me who long for a slower life. I received my certification as a Culinary Nutrition Expert from The Academy of Culinary Nutrition, and I focus on using foods to help promote health and prevent disease. My food philosophy is not just about nutrition and health, but also about truly good flavor which goes hand-in-hand.

My Story

I am cured of an incurable disease! My journey to health started many years ago. After giving birth to my second child, I started experiencing terrible joint pain in my knees, feet, and hands.  This lasted for several weeks, and my doctor attributed it to the movement of my bones after pregnancy. Two years later, I had a third child, and the joint pain returned even worse this time.  However, this time it was only months after my mother had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, so I knew this was not post-pregnancy aches. Further testing found enlarged lymph nodes in my lungs, which resulted in a diagnosis of  Sarcoid Arthritis at the age of thirty-one.  Sadly I was told there is no cure, and I would continue to have painful flare-ups throughout my life, and that it was already affecting my lungs.

After giving birth to my fourth child, I again had a severe flare-up, but doctors told me this disease was not related to my pregnancies.  At this point, two of my sons had asthma, and my father was now fighting Chronic Lymphatic Lymphoma.  I had had it.  I wanted to take control of my situation and be proactive against these diseases, so I started researching how I could help my family and myself.

I spent months reading and researching online about auto-immune diseases and alternative treatments. The most revelatory thing I discovered was how directly our food impacts our health.  The truth about dairy was a big eye-opener for me, since we were all raised on dairy, and I was a big milk drinker.  After discovering that casein in milk is used to make Elmer’s glue, I looked at my two little boys with asthma and was horrified at what I felt I had done to them.  At one point my toddler son was on steroids so often, he did not gain wait for almost a year, and I was advised to feed him Haagen Daz ice cream every day to help him gain weight.  Regrettably, I remember spooning it into his mouth as his little chest rattled like a freight train, believing I was doing the right thing. That was insanity! I found out later he had a terrible dairy intolerance.

Horrified by what I learned about gluten, GMO’s, pesticides and more, I stormed into my kitchen and pulled open every cabinet and drawer.  Grabbing the garbage pail behind me, I began reading labels and just tossing one item after another into the bin.  I would no longer feed my children disease!  I started to read labels diligently and took the whole family off of gluten and dairy, which was not easy in those days. I began to purchase organic food and pastured meat and eggs. I started making everything from scratch and cooking with pure ingredients.  As our diet changed, so did our lives.  I no longer spent every fall season in and out of the emergency room or pacing outside with one of my sons in the cool night air, trying to get the coughing to stop. I learned about herbs and healing elixirs and found ones that worked better than any inhalers.  I started their healing in the gut, and we worked our way to the stomach, and then the esophagus, which in turn healed the lungs.  Not only did their asthma improve, but all of us stopped getting sick at all.

Surprise, I became pregnant with a fifth child after six years of this journey.  After giving birth to my daughter, I waited for the pain to return; those flare-ups that seemed to coincide with each child and even two miscarriages, but none came.  I have now been symptom-free of Sarcoidosis for twelve years.  Of course, my doctor claims I am in remission, but I know better.  I am healed!

Be well,
Erin