Three meals per meal?

I wish everyone in my house was raw vegan.  It would be so much easier for me!  I go off and on, eating all raw fruits and veggies one day, then eating junk food or meat and dairy the next day.  I wish I could do a clean sweep and remove all the processed food, the meat, and the dairy from our house, leaving us only raw whole foods.

Unfortunately, I can't.


My three year-old is 90% vegan and I'm 80% raw vegan.  My husband would be 90% vegetarian, but for the past five months, we have had a 19 year-old living with us.  I really enjoy having him live with us; he is kind, honest, funny, considerate, and easy going.  The only reason I hope he finds his own place soon is because of his diet.


His diet is that of a typical teenage boy (except he doesn't like to drink pop):
Pepperoni pizza
Chili Cheese Fritos
Doritos
Cap'n Crunch
Whole milk
Meats
CHEESE, CHEESE, and CHEESE
Fast food
Capri Sun (which he has me addicted to now!)

When I first went raw a year ago, I removed the junk food from our house, stopped feeding processed food to my family, and went nearly 100% raw.  My son became mostly vegan and my husband mostly vegetarian.

Now if I am eating vegan or raw vegan, I usually end up cooking three meals for supper: one for my husband and our roommate, something for my three year-old, and then something for myself.  Of course, since I make the meals, I end up quitting before I get my food prepared.


Here are some things that I am learning to stay raw when the rest of my family isn't.

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1.  I make food for myself before I make food for others.  This is really hard for me since I feel the urge to take care of others first, especially my family.  If I don't make my food first, it doesn't get made and I end up eating meat, dairy, or at least refined carbohydrates.  Since I eat much of my food cold, I can make it at the beginning of the day or the day before and it is ready when others are eating.  It also helps if I assemble the food for them in advance (when I'm not hungry) and only have to cook it right before dinnertime. 

2.  I create a menu for myself just as I do for the rest of my family.  Each week, I write out a menu for my family, what I am going to make them each day and what I need to purchase.  Doing this for myself ensures that I will have fresh produce for my meals; I don't have to think about what to eat when I have Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes for my family in front of me. 

3.  I make gradual changes to recipes and meals to make them healthier for my family.  If I do eat some of the food that I give them, I am eating better than the traditional recipe.  Last night, I made banana bread for my son, our friend, and my husband.  Instead of a basic recipe, I made it vegan with 1/3 white flour and 2/3 wheat flour from wheat berries I ground a few minutes before. This way I make all of us healthier.

4.  I keep sliced veggies and veggie sticks ready to eat in the fridge with raw or vegan dips.  By making sure I have snacks available, I don't feel as great a need to munch on the high calorie/low nutrient value snacks eaten by the men in the house. 

Are you the only one who eats raw, vegan, or vegetarian in your house?  How do you avoid eating like they do?  How have you worked to change your spouse's diet and/or that of your family?