Vegan Scouts Seeking Volunteers

Join our dedicated team of volunteers to propel our inclusive scouting program for Portland-area vegan kids, emphasizing inclusive community, awareness of and civic action on issues of animal welfare, environment, health, and social justice, and building skills needed to prosper and be a positive force in our changing world.

Currently, we are seeking help with things like sourcing scout vests and caps, creating a vegan-friendly sourcing policy for the organization, organizing our summer campout (7/21), recruiting activity leaders for our monthly all-scout events, and coordinating our volunteers.



Please send an email to [email protected] if you’re interested in these or other ways to help.

Thanks for your interest in supporting local vegan kids!

Stop the Glug!

By Donna Reynolds

When I first went vegan, I loved being able to stock up on plant milks in 32 oz. rectangular cartons when they were on sale and then store them in my pantry, not in my crowded refrigerator. But what I did not like was the glugging and splattering that would happen the first few times I poured milk from a new carton because I was holding the container with the opening at the bottom, not the top, which seemed reasonable at the time. But to have a smooth flow of liquid, air needs to come into the container as the liquid is flowing out, to prevent a vacuum from forming in the carton. And by holding the carton with the opening at the top, air can easily flow into the container while the liquid easily flows out—and no more glugging!

Recipe of the Month

Vegan Chocolate Sauce

By Linda Tyler, The Gracious Vegan



Linda Tyler will have copies of her new book, The Plant-Based Anti-Inflammatory Cookbook, available for purchase at the Westside potluck on February 18, and will have desserts from her cookbook at the potluck for you to taste. Order her book here.

It’s hard to believe this chocolate sauce is sugar-free and free from butter or coconut milk. It’s silky smooth, sweet, and chocolatey. I love it on ice cream, rice pudding, and all sorts of pies and cakes. It’s also a snap to make – takes just minutes. Date syrup is the key – see below recipe for buying tips.

Makes about 2/3 cup of sauce (can be doubled or tripled)

Whisk or use an immersion (stick) blender to blend the following ingredients together.

• 1/3 cup date syrup
• 2 Tablespoons almond butter
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 1.5 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

The sauce is ready to serve. It will last in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks. It can be frozen.

Where to find date syrup:

You can make your own date syrup (also called silan), but it’s a bit labor-intensive. There are many excellent choices of organic date syrups online, and you can find it in some grocery stores, natural food stores, and occasionally at outlets. I use Date Lady syrup most often and swear by it. Use discount code CHEFAJ for a 10% discount (I don’t know if this promo code has an expiration date).