St Louis, MO & Cleveland, OH

I'm not sure if anyone else goes through phases where they feel really fed up with their non-working bodies, but I've been in a bit of a funk lately. I've been exercising more, eating healthier and my body is just not happy. I've been having all kinds of intestinal problems and it's really getting me down. No matter what I do, sometimes I just can't win, then have to let it all ride it's course and I guess right now, that's the thing to do; but doesn't it just get a bit tough sometimes? People who don't have to go through this every day, will never understand & it gets a bit tiresome having to explain (and run the risk of constantly sounding dramatic), but never mind - today is a new day!

Last week I joined Caleb for three days on tour and managed to find a couple of hidden places that were really impressive and definitely worth a visit from anyone who reads this blog. First up, St Louis!

Layla

I know I was just talking about how I was eating healthier, but on this day, I was fed up. It was the morning after the election and we were both feeling a bit depressed about the result and the future and there also wasn't a lot of food choice around the venue - so we went to a gourmet burger place.

It wasn't your usual burger restaurant - it was a small business and they had a great indy feel not only inside, but with their menu, burger names and milkshakes that could be made adult with their bar. They also offered gourmet Shawarma (which in the UK is what we call kebab meat) and home made hummus, as well as other middle eastern style bites, like falafel.

I (of course) instantly saw that they had GF buns and for the first time in a long time, I ordered a real burger! I can be weird about eating burgers. I usually only eat them when I've made them at home, or when my mum makes her legendary homemade burgers (trust me), but today I just went for it. And I'm happy I did. I ordered the Patti Smith (burger, bacon, pepper jack, smoked onions, sweet red pepper relish, and chipotle mayo), with a side of fries (come on, Donald Trump won) and their homemade apricot ketchup.

It wasn't a let down. It was glorious. The burger was cooked to perfection and the side of (also homemade) tzatziki aioli it came with was incredibly delicious. It was very garlicky, and if you know me, you know garlic is a love of my life. The ketchup was also really tasty - it didn't taste of apricots to me, but it was sweet and I couldn't get enough of it (also not surprising if you know me).

The fries (which they said were GF) I was a bit wary of. I had a few but didn't finish them all (like I usually do) because I was a bit worried they might not be fine to eat. They seemed like they had a coating on them, so I chose not to continue with the risk - even though they had been given the OK.

Caleb had a home made falafel burger with a side of the pitta and hummus and he loved it. Unfortunately it wasn't anything I could try, so if you're veggie you'll have to go taste for yourself, but whatever you do, definitely go there - I wish I had gone back later for more!

Anna in the Raw

Whilst in Cleveland, we took a slightly healthier approach to the day. It was actually the day of the election, so at that point I was full of hope and a healthy attitude (I'm not sure why I've done this blog backwards). We visited J Gumbo's first and I got vegan bean chili, which was DELICIOUS. I wish I hadn't felt so full before I ate it, as it was really warming (on a cold day) and I would have eaten bowlfuls if I could have. They had a few other GF options and lots of veggie and vegan soups and gumbo's too, so it was a great find.

Afterwards, I felt like I needed some juice. Do you ever get a feeling of just needing a healthy juice? So I looked up what was nearby and Anna in the Raw came up. We walked a few blocks and found the juice bar (which also made things like acai bowls) inside of a random office-type building. Unfortunately, their juice machine was down so we couldn't "build our own" juice, but we grabbed some of the pre-made juices instead. The lady behind the counter (I'm assuming it was Anna) also gave us a free shot of ginger for caleb & some free healthy macaroons  because it was our first visit. Let me tell you, the macaroons were RIDICULOUSLY delicious and I had to ration myself, otherwise I would have eaten the whole box in about two minutes flat.

As for the juice, the one I chose was made up of: peach, berry, mango, pineapple, lemon, turmeric & apple and was wonderful. Caleb bought three (I tried his green one, which was great, although I'm sorry I can't remember the name of it) and Caleb actually ended up leaving two of his in the green room fridge that night by accident, so I can't comment on what they would have tasted like - but from what I had, I can bet they would have been just as good as everything else.

If you're in Cleveland, this is a great local shop that deserves all your attention and if I lived there, I would happily get my juice cleanses from there and probably be in there all the time, so go for it!