35: Going Green: The Delicious World of Vegetarianism with Lyn Croyle
In this episode, Lyn Croyle shares her 20 years of expertise as a blogger and plant-based recipe creator on how to transition to a vegetarian lifestyle. With a BS degree in nutrition and dietetics, Lyn offers practical tips and advice on incorporating more plant-based foods into meals, experimenting with different cuisines, and combining the right types of foods to ensure adequate nutrition.
Tune in to learn more about the numerous benefits of a vegetarian diet and get inspired to try new recipes today!
Summary
Lyn Croyle, a blogger and plant-based recipe creator, shares her expertise on vegetarianism with the HobbyScool podcast. With 20 years of experience in food service and a BS degree in nutrition and dietetics, Lyn is well-versed in the benefits of a vegetarian diet.
She states that starting small is key to transitioning to a vegetarian lifestyle. Incorporating more plant-based foods into meals is a great way to begin. While eating out and hunger can be challenging, planning ahead and bringing a dish to events can help. Lyn suggests experimenting with different cuisines that naturally have vegetarian dishes, expanding one's recipe bank, and making over favorite dishes first.
A vegetarian diet consists mostly of products that come from plants, but allows for dairy products, some cheeses, milk, and eggs. A vegan diet, on the other hand, eliminates all animal products. Lyn has been eating vegetarian meals for about 10 years and has dabbled in veganism.
Benefits of a vegetarian diet include lower cholesterol and saturated fats, sustainability, variety in meals, and potential cost savings on groceries. Combining the right types of foods, such as whole grains and plant-based proteins, can help prevent hunger and ensure adequate nutrition on a vegetarian diet.
Lyn specializes in vegetarian Mexican dishes such as tacos, enchiladas, and tofu fajitas. She can be found on her blog Cook, Eat Livelove and on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. She even offers a vegetarian Getting Started guide with recipes and tips for those looking to transition to a vegetarian diet.
In conclusion, Lyn's advice to start small and gradually incorporate more plant-based foods into meals is a great way to begin a vegetarian lifestyle. With the numerous benefits of a vegetarian diet, it's worth considering and experimenting with different cuisines. Lyn's expertise and resources make transitioning to a vegetarian diet more accessible than ever before.
Mentioned In This Episode
Where you can find Lyn: Website
Lyn's Free Gift: Getting Started Guide
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Transcript:
[0:00:00] Dr. Destini Copp: Thank you. And my special guest today is Lyn Croyle. Lynn is a blogger and plant based recipe creator with approximately 20 years experience in food service. She has a BS degree in nutrition and dietetics and has extraordinary proficiency in cooking and creating recipes. Lynn, I am super excited to chat with you today and to talk about this. We're going to be talking about how to get started eating vegetarian meals and I'm so excited to delve in. But before we begin with all the great questions I have for you today, can you tell about good audience, a little bit more about you, how you help people and how you got started in this?
[0:00:46] Lyn Croyle: Sure, Destini. Thank you so much for having me on the podcast. This is like one of my favorite topics to talk about, so I'm really thrilled to be here. So my experience with vegetarian eating started probably about ten years ago. I had had something that I did every April when Earth Month would roll around, where I would commit to doing something that would be good for the planet for a month. And they were usually really small things. But one year I decided that I wanted to try eating vegetarian for a month. And so I dived in and I did it and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed how I felt, I enjoyed exploring different foods and it just kind of stuck with me. And so over the years, I've gone back and forth between a vegetarian and more flexitarian diet. I've dabbled a little bit in eating vegan, but for the most part I do consistently eat vegetarian meals as part of my lifestyle.
[0:01:46] Dr. Destini Copp: And I definitely want to dig into this because this is a topic that I don't know a tremendous amount about. Here we eat about everything and I've always loved kind of eating vegetables and I love salads and that sort of thing, so I've always thought maybe I should try that and see how it works for me. So can you talk about a little bit about what is a vegetarian diet and what foods can you eat as a vegetarian versus some of the other things that you just mentioned there, which I didn't even catch them all vegan. And another one that you mentioned.
[0:02:25] Lyn Croyle: We'Ll start with the flexitarian. It's the broadest, it's probably what it's where you maybe experiment with some of your meals are normal, like maybe meat based meals, but then you're also incorporating fish and you're incorporating vegetables, you're having some vegetarian meals, whereas with a vegetarian diet you're strictly eating mostly products that come from plants. Vegetarian diet does allow for dairy products, some cheeses, milk, obviously, and then also eggs. And then the vegan diet, which is a little is much more strict, really. It takes all of those animal products out. So you're eating only things that are coming from plants.
[0:03:10] Dr. Destini Copp: And I think if I were going to do this, I would be more of a vegetarian because I like the dairy products and the cheeses and the eggs and stuff. So you talked a little bit about a vegan diet, so let's dig into that before. You talked about a little bit about the vegetarian versus vegan. And it sounds like vegan is super a lot more strict if you would talk about that and what you can eat and what you can't eat as a vegan.
[0:03:37] Lyn Croyle: So as a vegan, you can eat beans, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. And then I think that the biggest struggle for most people when it comes to a vegan diet is really a lot of questions come up about protein. There are good protein sources that are vegan, but I do find it to be more challenging. It's just more challenging. It's more challenging outside of your house because it's harder to rely that everyone's really following the same kind of rules and guidelines, because some vegans may even not consume honey because honey comes from bees. So it can definitely be a little more difficult. Whereas with a vegetarian, I think a vegetarian diet is a really good place to start. And then if you find that it works for you, you can transition into maybe exploring, eliminating more foods that would be more in a vegan diet.
[0:04:35] Dr. Destini Copp: So we know that there's a lot of health benefits with eating fruits and vegetables. Can you talk about a little bit about what are the benefits of being a vegetarian?
[0:04:46] Lyn Croyle: Sure. So obviously there's health benefits. So plants are lower in cholesterol. You're eating less saturated fats in most cases if you're eating whole foods. Also, there's a sustainability. There's a sustainability that it's good for our planet and it's good for the environment. I don't have any specific statistics to quote, but growing plants takes much less resources on our planet than it does to raise cattle and chickens to feed the world. And I feel like that one, it doesn't have to be an all or nothing in that you could just make small one small change could make an impact in how that impacts our environment. And then also it's a great way to add variety to your meals, like just trying some new things. And then it also can be a way to reduce your grocery bill, which I feel like it can be a really big one these days, like a bag of beans, a bag of dry beans is going to cost you. Like, I mean, it depends on where you live, but anywhere between, like, two and $3. And if you compare and that's going to feed four to six adult, four to six people, whereas a pound of meat is going to cost substantially more than that. So, you know, there are there can be some ways to make it, to help it be more, you know, to help you be more frugal, I think, with with your your grocery expenditures.
[0:06:19] Dr. Destini Copp: And I think everybody's interested in. That right. Our groceries have skyrocketed in the past few years. I feel like mine's almost doubled. I'm probably exaggerating there, but that's how I feel. So let's say that we want to get started and we're going to dip our toes into being a vegetarian. Vegan might not be on our radar screen right now, but definitely being a vegetarian. So can you talk about some difficulties that we might face when we're getting started and give us some tips there?
[0:06:55] Lyn Croyle: Sure. So I think that, first of all, I think that the best thing that anyone can do is just start small. So you've got to kind of figure out where you're at if you're not eating any vegetarian meals. It might be very hard to just jump all in and be like, okay, I'm going to be a vegetarian. And it might also be you also might have difficulties if you're in a household where you're feeding a family or other people that they're just very resistant. So one of the things that I recommend if you're not eating any vegetarian meals is just to start slow. It could be as simple as like, you're making spaghetti sauce and you're going to take half of the ground meat out and put in half lentils. And then you can slowly transition. You can even start with a smaller percentage of lentils and then kind of slowly increase it until you have something that is completely without any meat. I find that's a really good way to get started because not only is it easier for people making the transition, but it's physically easier. Particularly beans and legumes can be a little taxing on the digestion system, even if you're not eating them all the time. And once you start eating them, it does get easier. You don't constantly have those problems. So that's one thing that I feel like kind of helps make the transition a little easier. Another difficulty is eating out of the house.
[0:08:23] Lyn Croyle: That one, even to this day, can be a struggle for me, especially if you're going to a restaurant, or even more difficult sometimes if you're going to someone's house. So some things that you can do to set yourself up is first, kind of have the conversation with yourself. Like, how important is it to you to really stick with eating a vegetarian vegetarian? Are you willing to compromise? And if the answer is no, you want to stick with it, then it's a good idea to explore restaurant menus. I mean, nowadays you can find all that stuff online, so you can kind of choose the restaurant that works for you better. But then if you have no choice in the situation, you've at least had a chance to look at the menu and kind of make some decisions ahead of time of what you can eat. And if you're going to someone's house, ask to bring something. I feel like a lot of times these days, people don't mind if you bring something and so you can make it so that you know you have at least one thing to eat there at whatever event you're going to. And then also hunger can also be another difficulty. There is this perception as a vegetarian or vegan, we often get, well, how do you get your protein? Aren't you hungry all the time? And if you're eating a wide variety of foods, that shouldn't be a problem. If your idea of eating vegetarian is to just eat pasta with tomato sauce on it, you're going to be hungry because there's no protein in that. You've just got pasta, you've got white pasta and you've got tomato sauce, and there's nothing that is really going to keep you going.
[0:10:05] Lyn Croyle: So I think it's really about combining the right types of foods, making sure that you're eating whole grains, you're eating lots of plant based protein in there. And planning also helps with that, that you've got it kind of mapped out what you're going to have for the week.
[0:10:24] Dr. Destini Copp: So I love the tips that you have, and I can only imagine how difficult it would be for a vegetarian to go out and to eat at a restaurant. But are you finding that more and more restaurants nowadays are having vegetarian options on the menu?
[0:10:39] Lyn Croyle: It is much easier, but I still feel like it can be it's much easier. And I mean, now you can even find restaurants that are solely vegetarian and even vegan. But it can still be a challenge for me. I try to stay away from dairy, not because of I want to eat vegan, but because I have a difficult time eating dairy. So it can be challenging for me if I go out and I want to eat vegetarian, but there's cheese on things. So it definitely is easier than it was, but it's not always clear. And I think it depends too, on where you live. Larger cities are more apt to have more options where I think in smaller areas where meat is still a big focus, it may be more difficult.
[0:11:34] Dr. Destini Copp: So Lyn, before we wrap it up here, can you give us some tips on how to get started?
[0:11:40] Lyn Croyle: Well, the first thing that I would say is get started. Start small. Just start with a little change. Don't feel like you've got to jump in and suddenly make a whole new lifestyle. I find that by starting small and getting started that way, you're also more likely to stick with it as a new habit. The other thing is to experiment with other foods, like other cuisines. There's a lot of cultures that have a lot of vegetarian dishes that they're just naturally vegetarian. So that's a good place to start and also to expand your recipe, your recipe bank that you go to every week for planning and also to make over your favorite dishes first, like my favorite thing to eat in the whole world is tacos. And so if it was me getting started to eat, I would start with that first and experiment with how I could make vegetarian tacos that I love, because I love tacos in any shape or form. So I think playing around with the foods that you like the most and that your family likes the most is a great way to get started.
[0:12:56] Dr. Destini Copp: And I will have to say, Mexican is my favorite food. Also, what vegetarian Mexican dishes do you make?
[0:13:06] Lyn Croyle: That's an easy one, I feel like. I mean, I do tacos enchiladas. I even have a tofu fajita recipe. There's lots of possibilities.
[0:13:15] Dr. Destini Copp: Yeah, well, Lyn, can you tell people where they can find you?
[0:13:21] Lyn Croyle: Sure. So my blog is Cook, Eat Livelove. It's all one word. And I'm also cook, eat, livelove on social media platforms. You can find me on Facebook and Instagram. And YouTube. And I have a vegetarian Getting Started guide that you will find the link to in the show notes. And that is a great way to get started. It's got recipes for an entire day of cooking vegetarian and lots of tips to get you started.
[0:13:53] Dr. Destini Copp: And Lyn, we will make sure that all of those links from the Show Notes so everybody can find you. And thank you so much for joining us today and giving us all these great tips about how to eat vegetarian.
[0:14:05] Lyn Croyle: Well, thank you so much, Destini. It was a pleasure. My pleasure.