Food Review: Gardein Pizza Pockets

Gardein Meatless Pepperoni Pizza Pockets

Helloooooo tasty convenience...these new Meatless Pepperoni Pizza Pockets from the lovely folks at Gardein hit stores in the last few months. I tried them at Expo West in March, and had picked up a box in a grocery store soon after that, but somehow these Pizza Pockets got buried in my freezer (behind the wall of other Gardein products, haha). I chanced upon them in the depths of my freezer a few days ago and it was quite a nice surprise, especially since it was one of those days where I was looking for something quick and easy to eat.

These beauties are shaped like buns, about 2 inches in diameter, and are stuffed full of yummy goodness, including pepperoni and mozzarella. Like all other Gardein products, they are vegan and contain non-GMO ingredients. I was curious to try them, since they seem so similar to Tofurky's Pepperoni Pizza Pockets that came out a few years ago (my review) as well as Gardein's own Pocket Meals that I had tried last year (my review). I enjoy most vegan foods that are fast, convenient, delicious, and come encased in a bun, so I hoped to add these Pizza Pockets to my arsenal of go-to on-the-go vegan products!

Restaurant Review: Burgerlords in Los Angeles, CA

A few months back I finally got a chance to check out Burgerlords in Downtown LA. Burgerlords is a no-frills burger joint in Chinatown with a simple menu, including vegan burgers. They only have a walk-up window where you order your food, but they do have a few picnic tables where you can sit. Plus, it's fun to wander around the center it is located in, which features Asian architecture and a Bruce Lee statue!

Burgerlords only serves burgers and fries, plus a few bottled sodas and water. Their simple burger menu and walk-up window are two reasons they've been compared to In-N-Out. The main draw for me, of course, was the promise of a vegan In-N-Out style burger! I used to love In-N-Out back in my college days before I went vegan, so I was stoked to have the same experience again at Burgerlords.

Food Review: Little Secrets Salted Peanut Dark Chocolate Candies

These little candies eluded me at Expo West, but I finally found them at Sprouts grocery stores! The brand, Little Secrets, has several other varieties of candies that are vegan (the Raspberry and Dark Chocolate), but my heart belongs to these Salted Peanut Dark Chocolate Candies, which are pretty much an exact vegan dupe for Peanut M&Ms, which I loved in my pre-vegan days!

As many other bloggers confirmed directly with the company at Expo West, the confectioner's glaze used in this particular product is vegan as it is derived from coconuts rather than bugs (which is where confectioner's glaze usually comes from, yuck)! I hope more and more companies start using coconuts rather than bugs for confectioner's glaze (Trader Joe's is already doing it in some of their products). In addition to being vegan, I also adore that these candies are Fair Trade Certified and most contain 55% Fair Trade cocoa! Plus, they don't contain any artificial colors, flavors, additives, corn syrup. Just simple, yummy ingredients.

Food Review: Trader Joe's Vegan Marshmallows

Trader Joe's Vegan and Gluten-Free Marshmallows!

Just in time for summer, Trader Joe's has released vegan and gluten-free marshmallows!! I am so happy about these marshmallows and practically ran to my nearest Trader Joe's store to pick some up when I first heard about them. I initially bought two bags and practically ate the first bag in one sitting!

Mummies by Candlelight: The Marvelous Dead and Darkness Tour with Dr. Koudounaris

The Mummies of the World exhibition is the largest collection of real mummies and artifacts assembled, providing a glimpse into the lives of ancient people from South America to Europe to Africa to the South Pacific and beyond. The exhibition has been experienced by over 1.4 million visitors across the world, and its limited engagement at the Bowers Museum is the first time the exhibit has been to Orange County! The exhibition teaches visitors about the world of mummies and mummification and shows how modern science helps us understand how and why mummies were created, where they came from, and who they were. 

Ok, as if that awesome description didn't get me hyped enough, I was even more excited to hear that a special nighttime lantern-lit tour of the exhibit would be led by none other than Dr. Paul Koudounaris, author of The Empire of Death,  Memento Mori, and Heavenly Bodies, who delighted so many (including me) at Death Salon in LA last year (read about that here). Tickets included a prix fix dinner at the museum's restaurant, Tangata, plus live entertainment by DJ Decadanse spinning gothic tunes and puppet shows by Rasputin's Marionettes. I was so in (and yes, I made sure Tangata had vegan options before buying tickets)! 

The Marvelous Dead and Darkness Tour was a really memorable event, and I'll walk you through my evening and share my photos below, which includes my overall thoughts on the organization of the event, a short review of the prix fix meal at Tangata (because of course!), as well as sharing photos of the mummies we saw by lantern-light!

Please note: below you will see photographs of real bodies, including some children and animals, so continue at your own discretion.

Watch Now on Netflix: Extraordinary Tales (2015)

I haven't been posting as many "Watch Now on Netflix" articles as I would like and have a lot of (fairly) new Netflix titles to recommend to you that I need to catch up on (hopefully soon, maybe in one big post)! However, when I saw this animated tribute to Edgar Allan Poe's work, I knew I had to write something about it immediately. You see, I have been wanting and waiting to check out Extraordinary Tales for quite some time now, and was ecstatic when it was recently added to stream on Netflix Instant!

This animated horror anthology features horror greats like Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Guillermo del Toro, Roger Corman, and Julian Sands narrating five Edgar Allan Poe tales and one wraparound story. Each animated short is narrated in a different style, with one having a stark graphic novel look, another one looking like a soft watercolor painting, another featuring bold colors in old comic book style, and so on.

New Vegan Bowls at Flame Broiler

You know it is definitely the year of the vegan when a chain restaurant makes a menu change for the first time in 21 years and it is to add a vegan item to their menu! The Flame Broiler, a fast-casual restaurant chain with locations in California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma, made its first menu change since its founding (!!!) to include a brand new vegan option for its customers. The demand for plant-based entrees has sky-rocketed, and The Flame Broiler has wisely met this need with a healthy, vegan charbroiled tofu bowl that everyone, vegan or not, can enjoy.

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!

It's Friday the 13th I'm in Love

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I saw this on my Facebook feed and couldn't resist sharing! "It's Friday the 13th I'm in Love" Jason Vorhees/Robert Smith of The Cure mashup by artist Craig Horky! I mean, how absolutely perfect is it?!

20 Summer Goth Essentials to Survive the Sun

UPDATE: Check out other Summer Goth Essentials on my 2018 list and 2017 list!

Summer is swiftly approaching here in the Northern Hemisphere and temperatures are already inching up into uncomfortable territory (I can't stand anything over 75 degrees Fahrenheit; yes, I'm a delicate little flower). Though summertime means that Halloween is right around the corner, we still have to get through the sweltering days, which can be a challenge for those of us that prefer dark and dreary to bright and cheery.

So, to help cope with the impending sunshiny doom, I've put together a survival list of 20 summer essentials for dark hearts like myself. Most of these items are for spooky ghouls (sorry boils) and include creepy clothes, sinister swimsuits, boo-tiful bags, macabre makeup, and more. These are all items I either love or covet, I have not been paid to post them. Also, everything you see is vegan and cruelty-free. And I think it goes without saying, but ALL BLACK EVERYTHING (ok, with a few exceptions)!

I hope these 20 items keep you cool and creepy this summer!