27 Must-Have Vegan Holiday Finds at Trader Joe’s

Trader Joe's has so many festively fun vegan holiday items this year, including new ones as well as returning favorites! Each year Trader Joe's unveils more and more vegan products, and I always look forward to seeing what treats they bring us during the holidays. Plus, many of Trader Joe's holiday items make great gifts or fun foodie stocking stuffers, so keep that it mind next time you're browsing the aisles of your local Trader Joe's.

I spent my grocery trip to Trader Joe's this past weekend scouting out all the new and returning vegan holiday products, and wanted to share my finds with you! Please note, all of these items are from Trader Joe's stores located in Orange County, California, so stock and prices may vary by region. Many of these items are seasonal and only available for a limited time, so be sure to grab them while you can!

Below find my 27 Must-Have Vegan Holiday Finds From Trader Joe's:

10 Spooktacular Vegan Recipes For Halloween

I haven't had a chance to do that much cooking or baking this Halloween season, so I thought it would be fun to revisit some of my Halloween recipes from the past ten years (wow, I can't believe it's been 10 years since I started this blog!!). I am by no means a pro at baking or cooking, but I always love putting a spooky spin on recipes - it is so much more fun to eat Halloweenized food, am I right?!

Below you'll find some of my fave past recipes, from eerie appetizers to creepy cookies! All recipes are vegan and contain no animal ingredients, because no one wants that trick for Halloween.

10 Spooktacular Halloween Recipes to make this Halloween season:

The Curious Confectionery's Pumpkin Spice Popcorn Balls

Popcorn balls are a timeless treat that we don't see enough of nowadays! They always remind me of autumn and Halloween, so I was extremely excited when The Curious Confectionery released their limited-edition Pumpkin Spice flavor this year. I was lucky enough to receive this flavor for review, and I couldn't be more pumped! First, a little more about the delightful duo who run The Curious Confectionery...

Food Review: The Curious Confectionery Popcorn Balls

The Curious Confectionery creates handcrafted artisan popcorn balls to tickle your tastebuds and satisfy your sweet tooth. All of their creations are crafted without animal products and made with incredible ingredients. The company was started by its founder when she realized there was no tasty treat that was both sweet, crunchy and salty. That's when she realized that old-fashioned popcorn balls were what she craved! She started making these for her friends, who urged her to start selling them. Thus, The Curious Confectionery was born!

17 Vegan Holiday Finds at Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's has a variety of vegan holiday goodies that make it easy to get into the festive spirit. Many old favorites have returned (Candy Cane Joe Joe's! Chocolate Peppermint Almond Drink!), and a few new vegan goodies have popped up on shelves.

While I get much more excited for their bounty of autumn vegan items I still love seeing so many winter holiday treats that vegans can enjoy, bring to holiday get-togethers, and share with friends and family!

Below you'll find the vegan holiday food that I saw on shelves at Trader Joe's - remember that most of these are seasonal products that are available for only a limited time, so grab them while you can!

Trader Joe's 2017 Seasonal Pumpkin Items

I look forward to Trader Joe's seasonal pumpkin food items every autumn, and they rarely disappoint! They have a great selection of pumpkin and autumn food, many of which are vegan. I start stalking their stores for pumpkin items in mid-September, and when I finally find all their seasonal stuff out, I go a little nuts buying all my faves!

My local Trader Joe's finally put out most of their autumn food items, and while there aren't many new items, I was stoked to be able to stock up on my old favorites. Check out all the vegan pumpkin foods and other fun autumn items I found at Trader Joe's this year below:

Daiya Pumpkin Spice Cheezecake

Daiya Pumpkin Spice Cheezecake! 

This past March at the Natural Foods Expo I had a chance to try Daiya's Pumpkin Spice Cheezecake, and I've been dreaming about it ever since (it was one of my top 10 picks from Expo!). Fall is finally here, and I was so ecstatic to finally find the seasonal cheezecake at Sprouts Farmers Market (along with a lot of other seasonal pumpkin food items - see more in my roundup)! Check out what I thought of it below!

Organic and Vegan Halloween Candy at Target

Target's Organicals (lol) - Organic Halloween Candy

Last year Target had so many rad organic and vegan Halloween candy options, so I was looking forward what they had on shelves this year. So far, the selection is kinda limited, but I'm hoping they add more as the season progresses. At my local Target (Tustin, California location if you're interested) I've only seen the YumEarth and Black Earth Organic brands at Target that are both organic and vegan. Check out the different varieties they have below:

How to Have a Spooky 4th of July

Hope you are doing something spooky for Independence Day, but if not there is still time to plan something for tomorrow! As for me, I'm keeping it creepy by carving some melon-o-lanterns, watching some scary summer movies, and grilling up some vegan noms like the Beyond Burger. If you are still looking for ways to spookify your patriotic celebrations, I have some fun recommendations for you below!

15 Vegan Holiday Finds at Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's holiday products are now available and I recently took a spin through my local store to see what items were vegan. Unlike their bounty of autumn vegan items (covered HERE), it seems like their winter vegan offerings are a little lacking. However, I was still able to find a bunch of delicious vegan options for the holidays. Some of these are new, others are old favorites, but all of them are only available for a limited time this holiday season, so grab them while you can!

Halloween Stuffed Peppers, or Pepper-o-Lanterns

Pepper-o-lanterns! I made a fanged fiend and a kitty cat!

How adorable are these Halloween stuffed peppers?! These boo-tiful babies are so fun and easy to make that I wanted to share my quick recipe for them here. Also, these don't have to be just for Halloween - when you are really missing the autumn season, these are perfect to make and you can find the ingredients at any time of year! And, as always, they are all vegan!

These vegan pepper-o-lanterns use only a few ingredients, can be customized to whatever your palate desires, and are fast to prepare, which means they are perfect for busy October nights where you just want to kick back and watch some scary movies with your boo. All you need is a few ingredients and about 20 minutes to make these precious pepper-o-lanterns! Find the recipe below:

Food Review: Two Tias' Organic Tortillas

This is going to be a quickie, because I mainly picked up these lovely Two Tias' Organic Tortillas because of their packaging. I cannot resist any foodstuffs with sugar skulls on it, okay?! I mean, who could?! I found these at Sprouts grocery store, and though I was enthralled by the packaging, I was even further thrilled when I found them to be vegan! I flipped over the package to check the ingredients (as vegans do), and right smack-dab on the package it said "vegan". Plus they are organic/non-GMO and use simple ingredients (basically just flour, water, and salt). Swoon!

What I Ate: Holiday Edition

Vegan Shepard's Pie that Mister Spooky made. It was the perfect

comfort food, filled with veggies, Beyond Meat crumbles, 

mushrooms, and topped with toasted mashed potatoes!

Soooo, the last time I did a What I Ate post was way back in July, and I can assure you, I've eaten LOTS of vegan food since then. However, posting all of it would mean an enormous post, so I decided just to share a few photos from the past couple of months over the holiday season.

These are mostly random food photos, meaning I haven't featured any of these in previous posts, including any recent food reviews. If you follow me on Instagram, though, you are probably familiar with some of the photos below:

A Guide to Vegan Holiday Roasts

It is easier than ever to choose to have a compassionate holiday dinner, so why not try some delectable vegan roasts for your holiday celebrations this year? If you think about it, it really doesn't make sense to give thanks by causing the pain and suffering of sentient beings, nor does it make sense to gather friends and family around a corpse, right? So why not serve compassionate, cruelty-free centerpieces to your friends and family instead?! Ones that truly celebrate the peace, love and community that these holidays represent.

If this is your first vegan holiday season, you have many options to choose from, and you can find an amazing vegan roast to suit any taste! Finding a vegan roast is easy, the hard part is picking just one (my suggestion - try several!)! And if you've been enjoying vegan holiday dinners for years, you'll be pleased to know there are some new options this year that look mouth-watering!

Keep reading below, where you'll find my guide for vegan holiday roasts. I've broken them up by type so you can easily find what you are looking for! Of course, this list isn't all-inclusive, but rather comprised of vegan roasts I highly recommend or ones I am looking forward to trying!

Food Review: Laughing Giraffe Organics' Pumpkin Spice Snakaroons

Written by Sarah E. Jahier

I found Laughing Giraffe Organics' Pumpkin Spice Snakaroons in my local Sprouts' grocery store (check out my other pumpkin finds HERE!), along with the rest of their pumpkin products. This was a new item for me, and I was super excited to try it! The Snakaroons are macraoons, and they are delightful mounds of coconut and pumpkin spicy goodness! They are also vegan, raw, gluten-free, non-GMO, and certified organic.

The Snakaroons are made with simple, natural ingredients, with no preservatives added. Their nutrient-rich and power-packed ingredients include coconut, pumpkin puree and seeds, vanilla extract, coconut oil, lemon juice, and spices.

What I Ate: Independence Day Edition

I had a lovely and languid three-day weekend for the July 4th holiday, where all I did was watch movies, take naps and eat some decadent food!

Of course, I had to Halloweenize this holiday, so on July 4th proper I carved a melon-o-lantern out of a mini watermelon. Yep, I really do try to make every day Halloween! It was a lot of fun, easy to do (though I did bust out my pumpkin carving tools), and reminded me that Halloween is not that far away! Here is my patriotic and starry-eyed little creation:

Star-spangled melon-o-lantern cuz Halloween in July!

Pizza is My Valentine

Pizza is My Valentine by Bare Wolfe

[image source]

Valentine's Day has always left me feeling meh, and I usually don't do much to celebrate (well, except maybe for splurging on the Fatally Yours chocolate box and watching Valentine's Day horror movies). However, since Friday the 13th coincided with Valentine's this year, I was inspired to do a little something special. Last night, I whipped up some killer Valentine's Day pizzas! Check out "The Heartbreaker" and "The Lover" below, plus some perfect pizza-themed Valentine's Day cards!

Vegan Bake Sale to Benefit The Gentle Barn this Sunday

Come buy some delicious vegan holiday treats this Sunday, December 7th at The Gentle Barn animal sanctuary in Santa Clarita, California! This is the first holiday-themed bake sale that is happening at the Gentle Barn, and it looks like it will be the biggest one yet! That means you can stock up on baked goods for the holidays to gift or just enjoy them yourself! Here is a sneak peek at the goodies you could be enjoying:

• Cupcakes from Courtesan Cupcakes, Luscious Organic Desserts, Sprinkles and Sensitive Sweets
• Bundt cakes from Biggie Bakes
• Various goodies from Life is Sweet Bakeshop 
• Brownies from Native Foods
• Cheesecake and cookies from Bloom Confections
• Raw desserts from Feel Good Desserts
• Various desserts from other bakers, including snowballs, gingerbread and candy cane muffins, sticky buns, holiday cookies, s'mores bars, and much, much more!

Besides the bake sale, a trip to The Gentle Barn will let you meet some truly amazing rescued animals. This sanctuary takes in abused and neglected animals that no one else wants and rehabilitates them, letting them live the rest of their lives in peace. In turn, they use rehabilitated animals to teach their visitors about these amazingly resilient and loving animals. You can pet, hug, cuddle, and spend time with most of the animal residents, which is truly a life-changing experience in itself!

Go for the treats, go for the animals, and spend time with some inspiring people and animals!

Here are the details of the event:

LOCATION: The Gentle Barn
ADDRESS: 15825 Sierra Highway, Santa Clarita, CA 91390
DATE: Sunday December 7th, 2014
TIME: 10am – 2pm
FOR MORE INFO: Facebook Event

You can read about my past visits to The Gentle Barn here!

13 Days of Creepmas: Gingerbread Haunted Houses and Gingerdead Cookies

The Haunted Mansion's 2014 Gingerbread House at Disneyland! 

They change it every year for their Nightmare Before Christmas 

display! It is massive and I believe it is made with real gingerbread.

Building gingerbread houses for the holidays just got a whole lot creepier! Instead of traditional cutesy gingerbread houses, this year you can make a ginger-"dead" haunted house, taking inspiration from Halloween or The Nightmare Before Christmas, like the photo above! A lot of gingerbread kits are sold around Halloween, but you can also make or modify your own for Creepmas. 

31 Days of Halloween: Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats

[source]

Did you know pumpkins are packed with vitamins, antioxidants, anti-aging properties, fiber, minerals and more?! This squash's health benefits are plentiful and varied, and this is the perfect season to make all kinds of dishes with them! I've already shared a few recipes that utilize pumpkins as the star ingredient, but here is another one of my favorites!