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!

Restaurant Review: Zombee Donuts in Fullerton, CA

As I was in the area to attend the sixth annual Abracadaver Halloween Market (read about that HERE!), I knew I HAD to finally make a stop at Zombee Donuts in Fullerton, California. Though this bake shop isn't all vegan, it does offer up a different vegan doughnut option every week. How could I pass on a zombie-themed sweet shop with vegan doughnuts? I just can't believe I've waited this long to visit Zombee Donuts!

I stopped in on a Saturday morning around 10 AM and was immediately delighted by their spooky-chic decor. The store had a lovely gothic feel combined with fun zombie decor! Think the doughnut shop of a gothic princess who also happens to be a fierce zombie hunter! I immediately felt at home, as the vibe was very inviting, plus the service was quick and friendly.

Vegan Donuts at Vegan Pizza in Garden Grove, CA

This past week, Vegan Pizza (located in the Anaheim-Orange-Garden Grove area), started making their own vegan donuts!!! There are already so many vegan donut options in Orange County (The Donuttery, Donut Bar [now Crafted Donuts], Cafecito Organico, Poqet Donuts, etc.), but you can NEVER have too many vegan donuts, that's just a fact! So of course I was ecstatic to check out their brand new spankin' donut selection!

What I Ate: Pizza and Donuts Edition

Heartbreaker Pizza for Valentine's Day - hand-shaped vegan crust topped with

tomato sauce, vegan mozzarella, onions, vegan sausage, and kale.

Well, February appeared to be a pretty decadent month for me, at least based on what I ate. Looking at the photographic evidence, my diet seemed to consist of a lot of pizza and donuts. Oops or success, depending on how you look at it!

Though I wish I could subsist on pizza and donuts alone, I cannot, while I do looooove both! I promise I eat healthy on occasion, though I don't usually take pictures of my healthier meals. I'll make a better effort to document my healthier meals in the future! In the meantime, though, you can join me in drooling over the many pizzas and donuts I enjoyed in the last month, as well as a few other decadent meals and a few healthy ones as well!

Restaurant Review: Donut Friend in Los Angeles, CA

Donut Friend!

In case you aren't familiar with Donut Friend, they are a Los Angeles-based donut shop specializing in custom, build-your-own donuts, as well as having many delectable signature donuts to choose from. Most have adorably clever names based on bands, like their Jets to Basil, S'Morrissey, Fudgegazi, etc. Fun fact: The creator of Donut Friend, Mark Trombino, is a multi-platinum music producer, drummer, and recording artist, who has produced, engineered, and mixed tracks for artists including Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182, Finch, Motion City Soundtrack, and All Time Low. As a drummer, he has also recorded and toured with Drive Like Jehu, aMiniature, Night Soil Man, and First Offense. So now you know where all the awesome donut names come from!

Donut Friend is a true vegan donut mecca in SoCal. I've been lucky enough to try their donuts on several occasions (at the Vegan Street Fair and when generous friends decided to share their Donut Friend haul), but I've never actually been to their storefront in Highland Park! Shocking, I know!! Well, the Saturday after Christmas that all changed, as I set out on a vegan food adventure! I've already talked about my first stop that day, at Ramen Hood in DTLA, and my second stop was none other than Donut Friend (and my third stop was Organix).

Restaurant Review: Poqet Donuts in Irvine, CA

Vegan Donuts from Poqet

Poqet Donuts (Poqet is pronounced "pocket") recently opened up in Irvine, California, and to my delight I learned they had several vegan donut options available! Poqet Donuts is kind of a "build your own" donut place, like Donut Friend in Los Angeles. Like Donut Friend, they also have many donuts already prepared. Unlike Donut Friend, the majority of their donuts are not vegan (boo), however they do offer two vegan donuts at this time - a Samoa flavor and a Strawberry flavor (woo hoo!).

Vegan Scones and Donuts at Cafecito Organico in Costa Mesa, CA

Vegan donuts, scones, and more available at Cafecito Organico!

It seems like vegan options are popping up everywhere these days (much to my delight!), so when a little birdie told me that the Cafecito Organico coffee shop at The Lab in Costa Mesa had vegan baked goods - including scones, donuts, and cookies - I checked it out as soon as possible! The baked goods are from a Long Beach bakery called Caffeinated Kitchen, and I am so happy that there is yet another awesome vegan bakery in SoCal!

New Raised Vegan Donuts at The Donuttery in Huntington Beach, CA

My box of vegan goodies!

Attention all Orange County vegan donut fans - The Donuttery in Huntington Beach JUST started offering classic, traditional raised donuts that are VEGAN! Their vegan cake donuts (review here) are freakin' phenomenal, but these new raised donuts take their vegan game to a whole new level!

Restaurant Review: Donut Bar in Fountain Valley, CA

Stumptown Cold Brew plus my two Vegan Caramel Pretzel doughnuts!

Written by Sarah E. Jahier

Orange County has some great options for vegan doughnuts - The Donuttery in Huntington Beach [review] serves up vegan doughnuts 24/7, Sidecar in Costa Mesa has a fancy vegan option every Thursday, and now Donut Bar in Fountain Valley, which just opened, offers up a different vegan option every day!

Vegan Donuts at The Donuttery in Huntington Beach, CA

The Donuttery's vegan donuts 

(don't mind the bite taken out of one...I couldn't wait!)

Two words - vegan donuts!!

This little hole-in-the-wall donut shop off Beach Boulevard in Huntington Beach now carries vegan cake donuts (and raised donuts as of February 2015), woo hoo! I can't remember the last time I had a donut, so as soon as I heard this place was carrying vegan donuts I hightailed it over there to get my paws on some cakey deliciousness.

As soon as I walked in to the establishment I was greeted by the lovely sight of a sign that read "We now serve Vegan donuts" and rows and rows of vegan donuts. Woo hoo!

The Donuttery's vegan donut selection

I chose three cake donuts to try - a lemon-glazed one with sprinkles (please see the update below - the sprinkles used at The Donuttery are NOT vegan!), maple-glazed one sprinkled with nuts and a chocolate glazed one. I am not sure what I was expecting, but certainly not the deliciousness my mouth was greeted with! All the donuts had the perfect cake-like consistency and the glazes were divine. They were sweet without being overpowering and they tasted just like I remember donuts tasting. My favorite was the lemon-glaze one because it was sweet and tangy. Mmmm mmmmmm mmmm!!

The Donuttery is open 24 hours a day, so if you are in the mood for vegan donuts at 3 AM and live around Huntington Beach you can get them! Score!

The Donuttery is located at Beach Boulevard and Slater Avenue and also carries a variety of non-vegan donuts, coffee drinks, salads and sandwiches (I didn't see anything vegan-friendly on their food menu, though).

UPDATE #1: Someone has brought to my attention that the sprinkles used on the vegan donuts ARE NOT vegan! The sprinkles contain confectioners glaze (i.e. crushed up bugs) and therefore are not vegan. The donuts themselves are vegan, though, so you could order the ones without sprinkles.

UPDATE #2: The Donuttery no longer uses non-vegan sprinkles on their vegan donuts and has better educated themselves on vegan ingredients, so you are free to enjoy all their vegan donuts! They now also carry RAISED vegan donuts, vegan donut holes and vegan bars!