Hi there.
I went Vegan as a single person who eats the majority of his meals alone and who cooks for no one but himself, so it was, in this respect, incredibly easy.
But! I was married at one point long before this and the health advice I was trying to get my wife to follow (who was sick with terminally diagnosed cancer) was close to a Vegan diet – but not quite. It was a majority of whole food but also included some types of fresh water fish. Although not vegan, it was definitely more healthy than her personal dietary habits and our shared ones.
I had an extremely hard time following this particular diet myself at that time, but I still wanted her to follow it. She was such a big meat and dairy consumer and so little a plant consumer that to her the change was massive and she described the fare as “horrible foods” (neither of us were cooks). It didn’t help I was sneaking in burgers when I was out and wasn’t following it myself. I found out later after she died that although she tried she also cheated a lot.
So what I’m saying is that I can understand how difficult it must be – especially with children. My best advice to you is to learn how to make more tasty meals that you like, and that your husband and children like – that don’t include animal products. Start making them a regular part of meals. Make them nutritious and filling – using whole foods, not stripped grains, isolated proteins, oils and sugars. Making them whole foods of the plant kingdom will increase fiber content, and so will increase satiety and add a variety of added health benefits.
Vegan foods are not expensive, unless you are buying pre-made stuff. In fact, many of the staples like beans, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds are among the cheapest stuff you can buy. Of course if you’re not used to preparing/eating them, then there will be some things you need to learn.
If you are transitioning and preparing meat/animal by product based meals for others, it’s going to be extremely difficult – your habits and even your gut bacteria accustomed to animal flesh are all going to be screaming if you don’t feed them what they want. This is where whole foods come to the rescue again – they feed a different set of bacteria (the beneficial kind) and help you feel full.
There is something else you can do. Your husband and children are likely to complain about taste – lack of it that they associate with meat. Try this. Boil some minced beef (make sure it's plain and unseasoned and also minced) - add nothing to it, no salt, no seasonings. Boil it till cooked then let it sit overnight in the water. Come morning, saturated fat will be floating on the top of the water. Put this aside but don’t discard. Drain the water and separate the boiled mince. Add no spices and no salt. Taste the mince, then taste the isolated fat from the mince. You will find that the meat will have almost no taste aside from a bit of metallic, and the fat will have none at all.
Your husband and children should taste them too. At the very least, you can convince them that meat and it’s fat have very little to no taste, and it is the vegetable seasonings and salt that is added that give them the flavor they crave.
If you can combine this knowledge with seasoning profiles for savory and sweet animal free whole foods – you can go a long way in helping yourself and encouraging your family to eat more of these meals. They may never go Vegan, but they will start to know that Vegan meals can be tasty and filling. This will be a huge step in the right direction for you and your family.
Good luck!