What I Ate: July Junk Food Edition

Tex Mex Taco Fries - made with Trader Joe's shoestring fries, Trader Joe's Soy

Chorizo, a cilantro pesto sauce and creamy garlic Alfredo crema (recipes in

the June edition of VegNews), tomatoes, jalapenos, onions.

From the pics below, it looks like I have subsisted on a diet of only vegan donuts, pizza, and sweets this July! Well, maybe that isn't too far from the truth, haha, but perhaps in the future I'll take pics of healthier meals (and try to eat healthier more often...maybe?). All the glorious food in this post is, as always, vegan, and I love sharing these posts with readers so they can see that vegans don't only eat salads.

So here is some of the delicious vegan junk food that I enjoyed this July!

What I Ate - April/May 2015

I've been a little stressed at work lately, so I haven't had a chance to post much. I wanted to remedy that, but since my life has pretty much been work, eat, sleep, repeat, I haven't had much to write about. However, inspired by Vegan Crunk's "Stuff I Ate" posts, I figured I could at least share some of the better things I've eaten in the past couple weeks. I love drooling over everyone's vegan food posts, so I thought this would be a fun, quick, and visual way to showcase some finger-lickin' vegan food I've eaten recently! Note: Most of these have been posted previously on my Instagram, in case you already follow me there and are thinking these look a tad familiar!

 My version of Frito pie! I made this with Trader Joe's Corn Dippers (though Fritos are "accidentally" vegan), black and refried beans, Follow Your Heart's Cheddar Vegan Gourmet Shreds (my new fave vegan cheese shreds!), crispy cabbage, red salsa and hot sauce. 

My Day at the Los Angeles Vegan Beer and Food Festival 2014

Written by Sarah E. Jahier

I attended my very first LA Vegan Beer and Food Festival this past weekend! I was so happy I was finally able to go and so excited to eat and drink my way through a Saturday afternoon. This was the event's 5th year, and it just keeps growing! This year the fest sold out in record time and hosted about 2,500+ people. The event attracts vegans and the veg-curious from near and far, and with good reason - vegan beer and food, all day long! I had a really great time, as did all who attended, but I wanted to walk you through my day there, let you know some of few annoyances I encountered, and offer tips and tricks to maximize your time at the fest should you attend next year (which I hope you do!).

5 Must-Try Vegan Options in Orange County

Written by Sarah E. Jahier

I have SUCH exciting news, ghouls and boils! I wrote my first article for Vegansaurus about "5 Must-Try Vegan Options in Orange County" and it was published this past Monday!!! I am so over-the-moon excited about this because 1) Vegansaurus straight up rocks and you should be reading it regularly if you aren't already, 2) Vegansaurus has always been there for me on my vegan journey and I could always rely on them for straight talk peppered with sass! It truly is an honor to see my writing on a site I have read for years and years now!

You can check out the article on the "5 Must-Try Vegan Options in Orange County" on Vegansaurus or read all about these awesome places below. 

I’m gonna let you in on a little secret: while LA is undoubtedly the vegan Mecca in Southern California, Orange County isn't far behind. Orange County is located between Los Angeles and San Diego, roughly an hour from each, and has amassed quite a collection of excellent vegan restaurants that are definitely worth the visit.

Since it would probably take at least a few dozen paragraphs to tell you about all the vegan options in Orange County, I've decided to spare you a wall of text and instead recommend restaurants based on meal-times throughout the day, from brunch to a late night snack. A lot of people will be coming to town this upcoming weekend to attend the Natural Products Expo, not to mention those who visit for the beaches or Disneyland on a regular basis, so now is the perfect time to recommend the best vegan options for those on a tight schedule or for those that may only be visiting Orange County for a day or two. I've only included restaurants that are unique to Orange County so you can maximize your time and try new things!

The vegan Huevos Rancheros at Seabirds Kitchen

Restaurant Review: Seabirds Kitchen in Costa Mesa, CA

Seabirds Kitchen at The Lab is now open!

I have been a long-time fan of Seabirds and their vegan food truck as year after year they have continued to impress me with their quality vegan food in Orange County! From delicious staples like their beer-battered avocado tacos to their other seasonal options and specials, I have always felt so lucky to have them in my community offering such amazing vegan food!

Seabirds Food Truck Pop-Up Restaurant Review

Orange County's vegan food truck, Seabirds, is hosting a pop-up restaurant event at the new Back Bay Tavern at Whole Foods Fashion Island in Newport Beach, CA through this Saturday, December 8th. As soon as I heard about the event I knew I had to attend!

I love Seabirds (their beer-battered avocado tacos are to die for!) and try to eat at their truck whenever I can. I think it is important to support other vegans in the community and to spread the word on awesome vegan food, so I recommend Seabirds to pretty much everyone. And how can I not? The founders of Seabirds rock for bringing such amazing vegan food to the masses!

I definitely wanted to see what the Seabirds chefs could do in a full kitchen, so Mister Spooky and I headed over to the pop-up on its first day. I gleefully checked out the vegan menu, which had starters, entrees and desserts. They had a nice variety of old favorites (avocado tacos and jack fruit tacos) along with other selections like butternut squash enchiladas.

Check out the menu for the pop-up below:

 Starters and Appetizers

Entrees and Desserts

I ordered the Creamy Potato Chowder as a starter and the Butternut Squash Enchiladas for an entree. Mister Spooky ordered the always-delicious Beer-Battered Avocado Tacos.

Seabirds' Potato Chowder Soup

The Creamy Potato Chowder was delicious and incredibly hearty! I loved the chunks of oyster mushrooms throughout the chowder that gave it a "meaty" texture. It came in a small portion but still managed to be quite filling!

Seabirds' Butternut Squash Enchiladas

The Butternut Squash Enchiladas were covered in a really delicious avocado-based sauce and a slaw. They had a subtle sweetness wrapped up in a delectably crispy shell! They came with a side of jalapeno black beans, but those were a bit under-seasoned. The plating was also a bit weird in that a huge plate with lots of unused area was used. Little quibbles and they didn't really detract from my overall enjoyment of the meal!

Seabirds' Beer Battered Avocado Tacos

Mister Spooky enjoyed the Beer Battered Avocado Tacos (I barely got a bite before he devoured them all). If you don't make the pop-up, you can always get these at the truck!

Seabirds' Salted Caramel Brownie a la mode

We couldn't leave without having dessert, so we ordered the decadent Salted Caramel Brownie a la mode. I double-checked to make sure the ice cream was vegan (it was, though I wish I would have asked what kind they used!) and we dug in!! The dessert was rich, dense and drizzled with crunchy bits of salted caramel. You better believe it was polished off in no time!

We left stuffed and happy, though I do wish we could have tried all the other great-sounding items on the menu. Hmmm, perhaps we'll have to go back tomorrow and Saturday, too?!

I HIGHLY recommend you attend this pop-up event if you are around Orange County this weekend. The pop-up runs through this Saturday, December 8th and goes all day from 11 AM to 10 PM.

Check out more Seabirds on their website or Twitter!

Vegan Breakfast Burrito from Seabirds Truck

To enjoy the gorgeous weather today (high 70's), Mister Spooky and I headed to the SoCo Farmer's Market at the OC Mart Mix for brunch. Besides the beautiful produce from local farmers, there is always a tantalizing selection of gourmet food trucks to choose from! I heard from a little birdie that the awesome vegan food truck Seabirds was going to be in attendance, so I was totally stoked, especially since I've been dying to try their new vegan breakfast burrito!

I got there just in time to snag one of their last brekkie burritos...and now I wish I had ordered as many as possible since it was sooooo yummy! The burrito contained a fresh, flavorful mix of tofu scramble, black beans, kale, bell peppers, hash browns, Daiya cheese and was topped off with a delicious green salsa. Just thinking about it is making me drool! It had a rich, savory flavor and I loved the multi-layered blend of ingredients. It was also on the large size for a food truck burrito and very satisfying. Even the non-veg Mister Spooky enjoyed it (when I let him have a bite).

Seabirds always delivers high-quality, healthy and mouthwatering vegan dishes. I adore their jack fruit tacos,  deep-fried avocado tacos (ok, maybe those aren't that healthy...) and cupcakes (and pretty much everything else I've ever had there), but this breakfast burrito is definitely my new favorite!

Keep up with Seabirds on Twitter and Facebook!