Where’s The Meat?

Tomorrow is the big day.  I start classes.  That means this day, Sunday, was the last day of “summer” so Jack came down to celebrate his passing of the qualifier for his high energy theoretical physics PhD and say farewell to the season of doing nothing.

I started out the day on the elliptical though I was fairly sore.  I had plans to head to church so I came straight back to the apartment, showered, and scarfed down my overnight oats for breakfast.

In the mix: 1/4 cup oats, 40g yogurt, 1/2 cup almond milk, tbsp chia seeds, stevia, 10g vanilla protein powder, medium plum.  I topped it with chocolate PB2 in the morning.

Following my bowl, I headed out to walk the 7 blocks to church and was greeted by beautiful weather.  It had been a while since I had gone to a service so I was looking forward to being back in the building.

I went to Rite II at 10am and felt moved by the whole experience.  I felt like I had some thanking to do given the accident last Thursday so I spent some time in silent prayer before the service.

The service ended at 11:30 and I headed back to the apartment to meet up with Jack who would be rolling into town at noon.  Again, the gorgeous weather made the walk so pleasant.  I really liked it.  When the boy arrived we had lunch that he brought with him.

Ham, colby jack, and southwestern mustard sandwiches with apples and animal crackers.  I ended up not eating any of the crackers because I was full from the rest.  I also drank a ton of water.

We ended up relaxing on the couch watching Good Luck Chuck and Man v. Food Nation (a marathon!) and then we collapsed into a 20 minute nap.  After we woke up refreshed my tummy was kind of grumbly so we had some crackers and hummus.

This was enough to hold us over until our awesome Taste of the Big City dinner date at Fogo de Chao, a restaurant participating in Devour Downtown (a 3 week event where places offer specific menus for $30).  This meant that we got each of our dinners for $30, including dessert, instead of $46.75 not including dessert.  We considered this a win!

This restaurant’s theme is a Brazilian steakhouse where you get three courses: salad, meat, and dessert.  The salad bar is incredible though don’t be fooled, it’s not what you would expect.  Instead of having lettuce and toppings the four-sided behemoth has things like asparagus, different cheeses, marinated tomatoes and mushrooms, a few premade salads like waldorf, chicken, potato, or tabbouleh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My plate was stuffed with all sorts of things like sundried tomatoes, artichoke bottoms, marinated cucumbers, fresh mozzarella, beets, prosciutto, and sauced green beans.

This was a great first course and was really different from any other.  I loved mixing flavors like mozzarella with sundried tomato or asparagus with bacon and swiss cheese.  Greatness.

Now when you’re done with the first course you gear up for the meats.  There are cards on your table which signify how you’re feeling at the time.  Red means NO MEAT and green means YES, DELIVER!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Along with the meats you get never-ending sides: crispy parmesan polenta, mashed potatoes, caramelized bananas, and these cheesy-bread popovers of awesome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Man, when you flip to green you get a deluge of meats.  Be prepared!  There are 15 cuts to choose from. 

We tried a bit of everything.  You ready for this?

My favorites were probably the bottom sirloin, garlic beef, and bacon wrapped chicken.  For not being a huge meat person, I normally eat meat maybe 3 times a year on average, I still really enjoyed this experience.  I ended up ordering most cuts medium to medium well.  They were juicy and really flavorful.  Pairing the bites of meats with the sides and some cheeses really made the meal.

We got a dessert course as part of our $30 special meal so I chose the chocolate mousse cake and Jack picked out the turtle cheesecake.

Both were scrumptious and I was impressed with the portion size.  They were no small petunias, don’t get me wrong, but I have easily seen dessert slices four times this size at other restaurants.  Considering how protein heavy the main meal was I think this was for the best.

All finished and delightfully full from our 2.5 hour meal, we walked home and Jack promptly got on the road because it was already 10:15p and he had an hour and fifteen minute drive to go.  I’m going to miss him but we’ll both be super busy with this first week of classes and getting back into the groove.

With class at 9am tomorrow I’m going to make some lunch to take onto campus with me and then head to bed.  If you’re starting classes tomorrow, good luck!  G’night!

Question: What is your favorite cut of meat?