by Gina Lawton

Created on: January 26, 2009

It's difficult to imagine a "rightness" when it comes to the type of diet you choose.In our family, we've run the gamut of being serious carnivores - complete with the tremendous lethargic, artery-clogging spell it weaves on our bodies - to struggling to be vegetarian (a position that threatened to end my marriage from "meat and potato" boy!).

Needless to say, we find our family wrestling to strike an acceptable median. I like to call our continuing food quest the "revenge of the vegevores," subtitled "A family struggling to find a balance that not only satisfies our stomachs, but our need for compassionate and healthy lifestyle choices". And, while it's not easy, it's become a satisfying, long-term pursuit of mine to carve out our culinary place where our family is both happy and healthy.

On the carnivore side of the ring is my husband, and my two youngest children. Bruce was raised to think a meal was not a meal with at least one meat entree, heavily supported by starchy side dishes and "salads" that actually fit better in the dessert category of menus. He has readily passed that presupposition on to the most impressionable members of my family. A regular chant at my dinner table is, "Where's the beef?" called out midst giggles and expectations.

On the other side stands me and my two older children. Enlightened to the true Nirvana of eating things that are easily sustainable and not likely to kill your heart by age 50, I have searched a variety of sources to find dishes that are plant-based, yet still filling. My culinary journey has taken me all over the cookbook world as I integrate and create dishes that are not normally found on a westernized American plate. The "big" kids and I relish in trying things I see on television, or that come in my monthly vegetarian magazine. While my husband wrinkles his cute carnivore nose and says, "interesting," the two older children are ready to head out to our local farmer's market in search of the freshest - and sometimes, most exotic - plant possibility for dinner.

So, how do we strike a balance that is satisfying, healthy, and still keeps my marriage in tact? Oh, the beautiful power of compromise!

I've decided to let Bruce have his occasional burger, or even a good, lean steak once in a while. I experiment with different rubs, or sauces, and slowly integrate new flavors that enhance his flesh-chewing experience. I encourage the percentage of children who say, "Ick!" to the beef to not close their minds to all meat choices.

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