food cultures

For big dinner's its usually just my mom and I unless you count the holiday dinners where the whole family gets together and eats. But since it is just me and my mom our dinner is very informal. We usually have take out or my mom cooks a meal and we sit down and watch TV together. We used to sit at the table and have dinner and talk about our days but recently dinner has consisted of sitting in front of the TV, which I think she does not mind cause we like to watch shows together. Our meals are pretty much the same with little variety, chicken cooked in different ways, sometimes rice with the chicken, my mom has me eating more broccoli, and there is always the pasta. Then sometimes we call for Chinese take out. Then after dinner we are always seeming to be eating snacks, like chips or candy.
The U.S mainstream version of eating family meals is that the women usually cooks while if the man were to cook it would be something more "manly" like barbecuing in the backyard making hamburgers. The wife would cook one meal a week and during that time the family had to stay at the table for 15- 20 minutes talking about their days. The rest of the time the kids would make their own dinner consisting of "white" products like ham, white bread and mayonnaise. Then occasionally they would go out to dinner like a fast food restaurant.
My food ways I would say are different then my family's only to the degree where I need to eat at least three meals a day and then snacks in between those meals. I do not eat a lot during a meal and so I am hungry when the next one comes around and I am always eating snacks. Now my family can go with out one meal because when they have a meal they are usually so full that they could not eat anything later. I am also a picky eater and in my opinion sometimes do not get enough things that are good for my body. I would also say my family is in between the mainstream eating and our own personal ways. My grandpa always used to cook the meals and my Grandma was never good in the kitchen. He always made the best stuff and I couldn't wait until we got to eat, knowing I'm picky he always made my favorite even if nobody else would eat it. I guess then my mom is a better baker then chef which is stereotypical but she does alright. Then the other males in my family also love to barbecue and rarely step into the kitchen otherwise but they would if asked.