furcal, i think it depends on the situation. i think maybe a lot of younger professionals without kids, eat out. we used to. now that we have 2 kids and i'm the stay-at-home Dad, we eat out rarely. i cook 95% of the meals and that includes lunch everyday b/c they're not in school full time yet.
i'm what i call a 'bulk cooker'. i don't have a step by step meal plan or anything, but i will somewhat plan my week and cook bigger meals which i know will last 1 supper and then maybe the next day's lunch. if i'm lucky, i can stretch it into another supper adding something new so it doesn't appear completely the same
when i bbq chicken, burgers, sausage or anything, i cook alot of it, let it cool down and then freeze it into meal sized portions. this is awesome for lunches as it only takes maybe a minute or 2 and the kids have a great nutritional lunch as opposed to some canned crap (which they do get sometimes).
i will say this....i think home cooked meals has alot to do with a family's nutrition too. i know this applies to us directly and i've seen similar situations with other folks. my wife and i weren't overly overweight or anything, but we made lifestyles changes and we both exercise alot and eat very well. that latter comes hand in hand with wanting to make the time to home cook and make proper meals.
my 2.5 cents.
keebler
