I feel what you are saying. It's hard to eat that much without getting into a lot of fat or the same foods getting boring. I am hitting about 2600-3k calories per day but my workout is pretty intense.
[Food for thought]
I personally think that 2800 number is a touch high. I am gaining weight on less than that. I eat 5-7 times a day, no one meal is much bigger or smaller than my fist, each one between 350-450 calories. I have found, that what I eat and when I eat it plays a role in how much available energy is on hand. For example. I do eat carbs but I do it before a workout. About 1 -1.5 hours should be enough time for your body to convert that to energy for your workout. After that, I get most of my carbs from veggies that have no fat and little calories.
Also, there are different kinds of proteins. Some break down into energy faster than others. Take fish for example, it digests fast and becomes fuel for your workout fire. Fish and potatoes is my pre-workout meal. I throw some salt on there to help retain some water while working too.
Before I started all this, I consumed about 2k calories per day but in 3 square meals. And would feel sluggish on the days where my workout is later in the day or at night. Or... at then end of a track day, I would be wiped out and the 3.5 hour ride home was a welcome rest.
[/Food for thought]
I fancy a tasteful good meal and have started to look for alternative foods that fit in my diet. I stumbled across
this a few days ago. Which may or may not help you out.
Maybe some of that homework I did will help you?