To Eat Out or In...That is *Tonight's* Question

As you may have guessed, I cook a lot.  Like all the damn time.  Like breakfast, lunch and dinner for five people.  The only day that I don't cook dinner is usually Sunday, when we have dinner at my mom's house with her and my sister.  Every other night though, whether I am inspired or dragging my feet, you will find me in the kitchen, whipping something edible up for my family to consume as their nighttime meal.  Some nights, however, I am too tired (or too busy, or too frustrated or too... anything) to cook dinner and we end up going out to a local restaurant or grabbing low-brow burgers to fill our bellies.  Some nights (or in this case, days), I call my husband at work and he casually says, "if you want to go out tonight, we could.  You know...instead of cooking."  I am sorely tempted and then spend the next several hours having this conversation in my head:

Me #1 (also known as the Stingy Chef, a character who despises the waste of food and who intrinsically believes that no one can make food as healthy or as cheaply as she can): *sigh*  "We don't need to go out.  You are going to the grocery store tomorrow and can make do until then.  There are at least two different meal options in the fridge at this very moment."

Me #2 (also known as the Lazy, Harried Mom of Three, a character who procrastinates using food up and who enjoys having anyone else cook for her, not to mention bring her alcoholic drinks): "Awww.....come ON!!  You know you don't want to cook tonight!!  You have a blog post to write, a cake to make tomorrow, the three little people to deal with all afternoon.  Who cares if the tomatoes sit another day?!  *sing-song voice* There might be margaritas...."

Me #1: "Quit whining!!  There won't be enough room in the fridge if we don't finish off the tomatoes and the milk and the bread and the lunchmeat.  Do I really have to go on?!  I will get you a treat at the store tomorrow instead!"

Me #2: "Nah.  I'm still going to think about going out tonight.  I mean, it makes sense, right?  We have an errand to run and there might not be time to do it if we DON'T eat out."

I could go on, but now you just think I am crazy.  Regardless of my mental status, it is a struggle for me to decide how to best spend our money and really how to utilize the food I have already purchased.  Yes, it is nice to eat out and yes, we do that every once in a while, but there are lots of difficulties in doing so on a regular basis.  I have to say that I am leaning towards the Stingy Chef on this one - it would be nice, but there is food in the fridge that needs to be eaten and both meal options should appeal to all five of us.  We will see though - right now it is nap time, the big kids are at school and I am happily typing away at a soon to be finished blog post.  When 4 pm rolls around and I have three screaming banshees running loose and wreaking havoc in my house....well, that margarita might just look too damn good to pass up.