I wanted to take a second to shine a little spotlight on the Bulldog Skincare line that I'm super obsessed with. Finding a good quality and effective natural product line is difficult, and I've kind of used it all in search of the best quality products that also happen to be cruelty free and free of chemicals that I can't pronounce.

The Bulldog Line is just that! I've used almost their entire line with the exception of their beard products because I think we'd all be scared if I left my house with a beard. I'm obsessed with the under eye roller, anti-aging moisturizer, and face scrub, but I legit love everything I've tried. Below are my fave products with some links to get your own <3 ​

FACE WASH & MOISTURIZER DUO - Such a great deal y'all! The Bulldog face wash is lovely, lathers nicely, and leaves my skin feeling soft and refreshed, Ingredients like green tea and aloe sooth skin and leave it feeling refreshed. Finish off with the Original Moisturizer to lock in moisture and keep your skin hydrated and healthy.

ANTI AGING MOISTURIZER - A little extra strength love for our face. Including rosemary, vitamin E, and echinacea, the anti-aging moisturizer works to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles with results appearing in as little as 4 weeks. Best of all? It's natural, not tested on animals, and not incredibly expensive! I love this product!

UNDER EYE ROLLER - Look, a rough night can leave any of use vulnerable to under eye baggage and that's where the Bulldog Under-Eye roller comes in. I've only just started using this product but I am literally obsessed. It feels so nice on my under-eye area when being applied and immediately makes my skin feel refreshed. I'm looking forward to some long-term results.

Below, you can find links to shop the bulldog line through my amazon affiliate links. Thanks for you support y'all!

1. First, we have a combination deal with both the original face wash + original moisturizer duo. A classic combination that leaves your face moisturized, fresh, and clean.

2. Secondly, a link to snatch up the original face scrub! The scrub exfoliates, removing dead skin cells and leaving skin fresh & glowing. I'll use the scrub 2x a week in place of the wash to ensure I'm removing as much dead skin and allowing moisturizers to penetrate more effectively.

3. Next up, a link to the anti-aging moisturizer. A step up from the original moisturizer in that it also tackles the appearance of lines and wrinkles. I love this product and you will too!

4. The body wash y'all! I've struggled to find a natural body wash that hit all the right notes. A lot of the ones I've tried have been so watery with literally no lathering action which often causes us to use more searching for that lather. I love the Bulldog body wash because it does just that. It's thick, lathers nicely, and leaves me feeling clean and fresh. I linked their original wash but look out for the Peppermint & Eucalyptus wash as well, it's amazing!

5. Lastly, the under eye roller. I've only just started using it but I absolutely adore the product. It immediately makes me feel refreshed and honestly, how we feel is half the battle you know?

Head to the BULLDOG website for a complete list of their products, availability, and take a minute to learn about their story. Amazing company, amazing morals, amazing products :)
www.bulldogskincare.com/

About 5 or so years ago, I was dealing with serious cramping and pain in my right arm. My forearm and hand would start to seize up after using my computer for only 5 minutes, inhibiting my ability to do blog posts, write recipes, cook etc., it was a real nightmare. I went for tests and they were unable to determine what was causing the spasms, leaving my in a position where I was feeling pretty helpless. One day, my boss suggested I started taking turmeric as a natural way to combat inflammation throughout the body so I decided to give it a try. 

I kid you not, within a month, the spasms I was experiencing in my arm had literally disappeared. There was no other change in my daily routine that it could have been attributed to which meant to me that it was the turmeric. Now guys, I swear by my turmeric and I take it in a variety of ways!

These are some of the easiest ways to reap the benefits of curcumin but there are so many opportunities to take in all of the benefits. I would suggest the capsules over everything else because its a guaranteed amount of curcumin and when taken with black pepper as suggested, gives you the most curcumin benefits. Mix it up you know? Drink the teas, enjoy a latte, blend some turm into your smoothies, just get it in because turmeric is such a body benefitting addition to your routine.

​Do you already take turmeric? How do you enjoy consuming it for maximum benefits?

As we all know, sodium is part of a healthy diet in appropriate doses, but it's super easy to go well above our day's allotment of sodium. The recommended amount of sodium that we stay under is about 1, 500 mg per day & too much sodium can lead to a variety of health issues that include weight gain, water retention, and heart issues. Consuming too much sodium isn't always because we've over-salted our food, it's easily over-consumed when we purchase products that are not listed as "low-sodium". I want to show you guys just how much sodium is hiding in everyday pantry products that we use without considering just how much additional sodium we're adding to our dish.

If we were to make a batch of chili and use all of the above products, we would be encroaching on dangerous levels of sodium. Let's assume you did not add any other ingredients or even add salt, a full batch of chili using these products would have 8, 159 mg of sodium. If we split that in four servings, each person would be consuming a whopping 2, 039 mg of sodium. So our innocent, seemingly healthy home cooked chili is providing us well over the recommended amount of sodium. This doesn't even consider the amount of sodium consumed in other meals throughout the day.

As you can see, it's incredibly easy to consume far more sodium than we should be in a day but if we make simple swaps in the kitchen, we can really keep those numbers in check. Look for "low-sodium" or "no salt added" when buying pantry products and you'll save yourself thousands of milligrams of sodium every day.

We all need a little sodium in our diets, but too much sodium leads to high blood pressure, heart attacks and stroke. There is often the assumption that eating plant-based is naturally much healthier for us, and while that is true in a lot of cases, we run in to the very same nutritional disasters when we choose to go for those frozen meals. Who doesn't love a frozen pizza or a delicious vegetarian pot pie once in a while? Convenience plays a major role in these purchases and frankly, most of these frozen meals are pretty delicious, which is why we keep coming back to them. The truth is, delicious as they may be, these frozen meals are loaded with bad for you ingredients and the sodium content is astronomical. 

Let's take a look at a few frozen, plant-based meals, and just how much bad stuff & sodium is deceptively hidden in your "healthy" plant-based entrees.

As this post demonstrates, the illusion that "plant-based" always means "healthy" is wholly incorrect. We all reach for these products but we must always read the ingredients / labels, particularly the nutritional label. If you're going to get slammed with a day's worth of fat, calories, or sodium, it's not worth the convenience. Fresh is best, but always try to aim for balance. If you're going to eat one of these frozen dishes, I'd suggest a bountiful, fresh salad to pair it with. This will balance out some of that sodium and provide a more round and balanced meal that won't leave you searching for snackies afterwards.

Were you surprised by some of these sodium nightmares? 

Spring has sprung here in Ontario Canada, and that means we have some beautiful and delicious fresh produce to look forward to. Spring truly is magical you know? Trees start to bud, flowers start to grow, everything starts to look green, and produce just has that succulent vibe I'm obsessed with.

Here's a few of my favourite spring veg and some ideas for what to do with them.

​ca.news.yahoo.com/worlds-first-3d-printed-ribeye-042629352.html

An Israeli company called Aleph Farms, has produced the world's first 3D printed ribeye steak. The steak uses bioprinted cells taken from cows that are then grown in petri dishes and multiply & grow much like a real biological process that makes an animal grow. 

“It incorporates muscle and fat similar to its slaughtered counterpart and boasts the same organoleptic attributes of a delicious tender, juicy ribeye steak you’d buy from the butcher,” the firm said in a statement.

There's simply not enough information out there available to us yet. According to the original story I shared at the top of this blog post, the cells are taken by swabs, indicating there is no harm done to the cows to obtain them. Is this the entirety of the process? Are these cows kept confined, much like the meat industry, destined to be swabbed for life but never slaughtered? There are too many questions to be able to give any kind of definitive answer on this, but I would like to believe that a shift to lab-grown meat would not involve such rampant cruelty as the factory farmed meat industry.

Much like the question of whether it is ethical, there simply is not enough information to give any kind of definitive answer on this. It's my understanding that the animals are not harmed to obtain cells needed for lab-grown meat. Much like the lab-grown chicken served in Singapore for the first time in December of 2020, information was vague in terms of what conditions the animals are kept in prior to having cells obtained. Are these local, farm animals that have their cells ethically taken, or are we talking animals living in confinement? There's too many questions here, but I'd like to assume a shift of this magnitude would come with some reassurances on environmental impact and animal welfare.

This is a tricky one because again, there is simply not enough information available to us yet. What is healthy? One would argue from the stance of a vegetarian / vegan that consuming meat is unhealthy for humans period, lab grown or not. Will it be pumped full of the same chemicals / antibiotics that factory-farmed animals consume? What are the long term effects of consuming lab-grown meat? Only time, tests, and studies; many years into the future will give us those answers.

Both the lab-grown chicken in Singapore, and the lab-grown steak in Israel, offered limited information about the process in which this meat is grown. What we do know is that extracted cells from animals are grown in petri dishes, and over time, grown and develop much the same way an animal would. I'm assuming it's a heavily monitored process, one that likely takes considerable time. I'm intrigued to learn more about this process from start to finish.

One thing I've noticed about the launch of products that had sparked a lot of interest is that they tend to be released at a price-point that is often considerably higher than the alternatives. When Beyond Meat first hit the market, it was immediately picked apart for being significantly pricier than the meat alternatives, making it unrealistic to substitute for a family of 4 or 5. For example, a 2-Pack of Beyond Burgers averages about $7.99 Canadian, while that same cost can get you a box of frozen beef patties that will likely feed your whole family. That disparaging price difference is a hurdle for new products when you're trying to sway people away from the products they are currently using.

I would imagine if the process of growing and supervising the meat is timely and requires multiple hands on deck, it's automatically going to be at a higher price point because of the labour involved. I think we should expect that this meat will come at a cost.

I really don't know. I think there will be a lot of deciding factors when it comes to getting the everyday, meat-eating family to switch to lab-grown. Firstly, cost will be a big thing. It's nearly impossible to market a product that comes at a significantly higher price to an average, middle-class family. We're all looking for the most cost efficient ways to live, so a product that comes with a much higher cost than a comparable alternative is going to be a hard sell.

Secondly, I don't know if I believe that there are millions of people out there who claim to care about both animal welfare and the environment, while simultaneously supporting factory farms. That would be the initial target market and frankly, I don't think there's a market at all. You can't in good faith claim to care about animal welfare or the environment, while supporting an industry that is single-handedly decimating both. I don't know, I guess only time will tell when more information regarding pricing and availability becomes available.

In a perfect world, we wouldn't be growing meat in laboratories to fulfill a planet's need for meat products. The same question could be asked to those of us who don't eat meat in regards to why the plant-based products coming out mimic the taste, smell, and texture of the meat we turned our backs on.

Is a meat-free existence in our future? It's a possibility, but I think we need to get these experiments out of the way first before as a planet, we collectively agree that the future is meat-free.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What are your thoughts on lab-grown meat? I want to hear from you <3

HAPPY VEG

​ca.news.yahoo.com/lab-grown-chicken-meat-debut-070802158.html

​edu.gcfglobal.org/en/thenow/what-is-labgrown-meat/1/

The same company responsible for Just Egg is providing a private club in Singapore with the opportunity to be the first consumers of lab grown chicken. Club 1880 in Singapore will receive the product and serve it to guests on December 19th, after being selected for sharing similar values to the founding company, Eat Just. The guests were also individually selected based on their supposed commitments to "making the world a better place." This will mark the very first time cultured meat is being served in a restaurant / club. Does lab grown meat spell the end of factory farming? 

Will lab grown meat reduce the need for factory farming ultimately leading to less greenhouses gases and less animals being rapidly slaughtered? In the long run, I want to say yes but as of now, the process to create this meat is lengthy and extremely expensive so I don't see it replacing factory farming any time soon. There's a lot of promising evidence to suggest that this could be the future of meat consumption but that is many years of tireless work away. 

No, not at all. With these lifestyles, there's a commitment made to abstain from consuming meat regardless of how it is conceived. I would never eat a piece of meat again, I don't care if it was grown in a lab or came straight from the slaughter house, and I feel like a lot of vegans & vegetarians would share that same sentiment. As I said earlier, there's not enough information yet as to whether this is a cruelty free process of creating meat, rather that it is more environmentally friendly. The reduction is land use, energy use, and toxic greenhouse gases is certainly reason to celebrate, but not enough of a reason for people who have given up meat to suddenly go back to it.

I believe that lab grown meat will entice those who make conscious efforts in their lives to reduce their environmental impact but perhaps have yet to commit to ditching meat. While it may be hypocritical to consume meat knowing the environmental impact of factory farmed animals while simultaneously promoting the banning of single use plastics or electric vehicles, these people exist. I honestly think the idea of meat that doesn't contribute so heavily to environmental pollution will entice those environmentally conscious folk who still want to consume meat but want to do their part for the environment. I also believe that there are people out there who support stricter regulations for factory farms and meat production, but haven't fully committed to abstaining from these products.

Look, based on information that I found online, we're nowhere near the point where lab grown meat will phase out factory farming. Will this be the eventual outcome? I hope so, because the reports I did find online all suggested an enormous reduction in energy usage, pollution, and land use, not to mention the billions of animals that could be spared slaughter every year. 

I wholly support this initiative but don't think you'll catch me snacking on a piece of fried chicken or anything.

HAPPY VEG

​www.msn.com/en-ca/health/nutrition/veggie-burgers-win-the-right-to-be-called-burgers-after-meat-lobby-loses-eu-vote/ar-BB1avvsD?li=AAggV0S

A farmer-backed plea to rename products like "Veggie Burgers" or "Plant Based Sausages" was struck down by EU Parliament, failing to argue their point of consumer confusion. The farmer-backed organization made claims that allowing products to be named "burgers" or "sausages" was creating confusion for consumers and would open a "Pandora's Box" of misleading language.

Meat based organizations are scared and rightly so, the world is gradually moving towards a more green and compassionate lifestyle and the meat industry will undoubtedly suffer the consequences. The root of this plea from farmers is to protect themselves from the inevitable, much like an AG-GAG bill aims to do. When factory farmers lobbied for protection from activists and under cover organizations, they did so solely to protect themselves from being exposed. This is done out of fear and fear alone. One would not need to shield the public's view unless there were things happening that were outside the realms of acceptable practice and behaviour. Such is the case here with this case, meat producers are scared and are looking for ways to target the plant-based industry to protect themselves. It has nothing to do with misleading consumers and everything to do with stalling plant-based growth while hopefully increasing meat-based products sales.

While the veggie burger ban was denied, dairy-alternatives were not so lucky with various "milks", "butters", and "yogurt-style" terminologies on the chopping block. Once again, it's obvious that these industries have recognized the growth potential for plant-based products and are targeting them solely to protect themselves and stall growth for competitors. It's so obviously desperate and a very clear indication that these industries are feeling the pinch from the exponential growth of plant-based products. 

While the EU will still be able to enjoy a VEGGIE BURGER, I can't help but wonder how long until these farmer-backed organizations come after the terminologies again. 

What are your thoughts? Do you believe it is misleading to call plant-based products "sausages" or "burgers? Why or why not?

HAPPY VEG

When we think of fresh produce, we can't help but think about summer and the abundance of delicious fruit and vegetables that become available to us. While summer produce is fabulous, fall provides us with some of my favourite veggies to cook with at home. Here's a couple of my favs and a few ideas to use them.