Two things that hit sort of simultaneously: I had made a couple of grilled chicken breasts and as I was cutting into one and eating it with some rice, I realized how boring and mundane it was. I thought about how many chicken breasts I've had over the past 20 years or so, and in that moment I thought, "If I never had another chicken breast as long as I live, I'll be fine with that." The second thing that happened was over the course of a couple of months prior. In a nutshell, I became extremely disappointed in the quality of beef I was getting in relation to the price, no matter what the cut was, and no matter where I bought it from. If I bought a couple of filets or New York strips from the grocery store and cooked them to medium on the grill, they were still chewy. If I went out to Morton's or another high-end restaurant to get a prime cut cooked for me, they wanted almost $50 for it, and that's before any side items whatsoever. The restaurant inside the Four Seasons hotel here in Orlando wanted $69 for a bone-in ribeye, and I went for it since I was taking the wife out for an anniversary dinner. And you know what? It wasn't even close to being worth the money. So after those experiences with beef and the extreme boredom I developed with chicken, I literally said to myself, "I am so over this".
Meat is hard to eat regularly inside the house and at restaurants. I really only enjoy meat one way and in one place - Skirt steak in Latin America on the grill. Trust me, if you go anywhere in Latin America and get a skirt steak with chimichurri on top, you will realize how bland filet mignon is. That is the only meat I love outside the house but in the U.S. it is all Filet and NY Strip at $25-$35 on the cheap end for above average and Capital Grille/Morton's pricing on the other end. Meh.
Dude you are in Florida.... Ok go to the nearest Cuban restaurant and look for: Ropa Vieja - shredded skirt steak in a tomato and pepper stew sauce (but served with rice and platanos maduros) Vaca Frita - shredded skirt steak but fried a bit more in the pan to get a little more crunchy and often with onions, still juicy. Skirt Steak - some places call it Churrasco, in Spanish it will be called Entrana, as long as the description is skirt steak grilled....da shit, put chimichurri sauce along it with some butter, you might leave your wife for it. Picadillo - ground beef with peas and onions and Cuban seasoning, add the rice and platanos...
Skirt steak and flank steak, great for Fajitas...grill that fat into flavor. Best to marinate to tenderize tho'.
Latin America it is a religion to marinate skirt steak/flank steak. Often when I get it you can almost squeeze it like a sponge and all the juices come out. best cut for me...way better than NY or Filet. Often on NY Strip I need salt and horseradish cream to get real flavor. For skirt steak it has it alone but it is just better with butter and chimichurri...
I'm pretty good with everything on that list except for tofu and oats. I can't stand either one of them. And I had no idea that pumpkin seeds were so loaded with protein. Thanks for sharing that!