Sisters Vegan Interview:
Meg and Kelly

Kelly and Meg

The sisters vegan cover fun topics like the food they both cook, their favorite cookbooks, and interesting anecdotes about daily life, and the occasional deeper animal advocacy topics.

Megan often tests recipes for cookbook writers, so we often see pictures of her tests, which are always hunger-inducing and tempting. Kelly, who contributes a little less often than Meg, is in art school and recently shared some of her very cool artwork about the atrocious Canadian seal hunt.

Kelly's artwork

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It's the first duel-writer blogs I've interviewed and the sisters vegan decided to individually reply to each of my questions. I hope you love learning about the great sisters vegan:

1. Did you both become vegan for the same reasons, and at the same time?

Kelly: Nah, I actually thought it was pretty outlandish when my sister expressed an interest in veganism. Unfortunately I can remember all too well the times I spent taunting her and saying she wouldn't be able to go vegan. Imagine my embarrassment!

Megan: Nope! I went vegetarian and then vegan about three months later, and I think around that time Kelly went vegetarian, and then went vegan soon after. Initially my most important reasons were environmental, but now it's for animals, for the environment, and for my health. Kelly's always been an animal lover though, so I think after she learned some more about veganism, it was a natural shift for her.

2. What did you struggle with the most in making the transition to veganism, or as a new vegan?

Kelly: The dealbreaker for most people seems to be giving up cheese, but I found sushi to be my biggest obstacle. As an avid consumer of philadelphia rolls and tempura shrimp, sushi was definitely the hardest thing to "give up", just by virtue of it being my favorite food. (That is, before I found a spot in San Francisco with the tastiest vegetarian sushi I've ever had.)

Megan: I was so excited about this new part of my life but not all my friends were very nice about it. I think some folks don't adjust to change well. One friend told me I was "intentionally alienating" people because somehow being vegan meant I thought I was better than everyone else! Um, no. Luckily other friends were much more enthusiastic.

3. My biggest pet peeve question/comment from those in the non-vegan world is "I tried to be a vegan for awhile, but it was too hard." What are your pet peeve questions, and do you have any good responses?

Kelly: Besides the typical "Don't you have a protein deficiency?" and "I could never live without bacon/cheese/duck/etc" the most frustrating comment I've gotten lately was something along the lines of, "Science told me that meat made our brains bigger, what do you say to that?"

Unless you're an anthropologist or have the China Study in yourpocket, there's not a whole lot you can say to that. My typical

Kelly and Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Sometimes people ask these questions and aren't really interested in your answer anyway - the trick is to keep your head and be open-minded, even if other people aren't.

Megan: I'm so tired of hearing that it's expensive to be vegan. Um, what about beans, grains, and veg? That's like the cheapest part of the grocery store.

It also makes me sad that there's a misconception that just because vegans care about animals means we don't devote time to helping humans. Vegans (should, and most do) care about ALL animals, human and non-human!

4. What are your favorite meals that you find yourself making all the time?

Kelly: As a starving student on a budget, I usually try to make things that will last me a while. I make a mushroom and vegetarian sausage lasagna that even my omni friends will swear by. One of my other favorite dishes is vegetarian chili with chipotle powder and avocado.

Megan: I recipe test for a couple people so I've been making a lot of new dishes lately! But I make a lot of tofu with veggies and rice, tacos, roasted veggies, soups, hummus! Healthy whole foods make me feel great. I love to bake cookies and muffins sometimes, too.

5. You reference many of the classic vegan cookbooks... if you had to pick your top 5, what would they be?

Megan: In no particular order: Vegan with a Vengeance (Isa Chandra Moskowitz), Veganomicon (Isa, & Terry Hope Romero), Eat Drink & Be Vegan (Dreena Burton), La Dolce Vegan (Sarah Kramer), and The Moosewood Cookbook (Mollie Katzen). (I know the last one isn't vegan but 95% of the recipes are easily veganized or already vegan.)

I think the best cookbook authors make you feel comfortable yetconfident, like cooking with a good friend who knows what you like and what you need help with. I love sitting down and reading these books as well as cooking from them because they make me feel so at home.

6. Is your mom vegan? Or is she just super supportive? How do we get all our moms to be like her?!

Kelly: In an ideal world, our wonderful mom would be vegan too. I think it's something she strives to do one day too (maybe when they start serving dairy-free frozen yogurt around here), but for now we're just content that she is always willing to prepare vegan meals for us at home and at family gatherings. Thanks to my mom, our extended family has realized how easy it is to cook vegan food, and how delicious it is too!

Kelly, Meg, and their mom

Megan: Mom isn't vegan, but both mom and dad (and our whole family, in fact!) are super supportive. It helps that our fam loves to cook, so I think it's fun for them to try new things and cook with us. We try to be very clear about what we eat, and folks are generally happy to make vegan-friendly food, and we of course make dishes to share. If it's tasty, people will eat it! Desserts in particular are a great way to introduce your family to vegan food.

7. Do you any have tips for other young students who are on budgets but want to eat vegan?

Kelly: Like I mentioned before, I always am on the lookout for foods I can easily stock up on so I can stretch my money as far as possible. I bulk up on things like brown rice, black beans, tofu, chickpeas, and I make a lot of rice bowls, stir fries, lasagna, and a ton of soup. Stuff like that can last you a week.

Eating out can sometimes be difficult for vegans anyway, so you may as well save money while knowing exactly what you're eating by preparing food at home. Hey, if I can learn to cook, anyone can. You might even have fun!

Megan: Learning to cook and not eating out 3x a week was definitely a money-saver! My favorite health food store in my college town had a shelf with 50% off produce that was a little damaged or that was about to get overripe. I would build meals based on what was available that week! It was a way to save money and try new foods, and I always ate leftovers for lunch at school the next day.

Kelly, Sarah Kramer, and Meg

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