Veggetti Vegetable Spiralizer for making veggie pasta.

[Michael aka Mac]

I am a lover of both food & cooking, and my Condo is filled to the brim with cooking gadgets & appliances.  I finally took the plunge 14 months ago and decided to eat healthy and lose weight. When people talk about diets, and how they didn't work for them, trust me when I say I understand.  I realized just dieting was not going to work, least not at the pace that I was looking for, if it meant I was still eating high caloric items as part of that diet.

This is where I came up with substitutions. Loving Italian food, eliminating pasta and bread was not an acceptable solution. Substituting veggie noodles for flour based noodles shaved 200 calories off my dinner. Light bread (low 40 calories per slice) vs. dinner rolls saved another 200 calories.

Sadly though there was the price difference. I could buy a box of pasta that had 8 servings for $1 where as a dinner serving of store bought Zucchini pasta was as high as $4-$6. 

I spent months looking online for an inexpensive spiralizer, and most were actually very expensive imo.  What's worse, is they all seem to break down quickly.

It wasn't until this past month where I just happened upon the Veggetti Vegetable spiralizer at my local Bed Bath & Beyond. With a 20% off coupon in hand $9.99 became ~$7.99 for this very compact, backpack storage capable device. 

I have been using this device every night to make veggie pasta, for stir fry, and even add some to my sandwiches. The Veggetti comes with 2 different thickness spiralizers depending on which side you insert the veggie.  It is easy to use, and does the job effortlessly due to the extremely sharp cutting blades.

I give this little guy 2 thumbs up,  great price, compact, durable, sharp, and allows for 2 different thickness pasta styles. Only suggestion is to buy a dollar store toothbrush to clean the blades.

[Dogwood]

Mac, a bunch of non Italian traditional "pastas" are available in the U.S. that are  GF and/or not wheat based. lentil, chickpea, edamame, quinoa, etc. Even SOBA noodles made of 100% buckwheat are readily available. 

Spiralizers are great too. What veggies have you spiralized?   

[Michael aka Mac]

18 hours ago, Dogwood said:

Mac, a bunch of non Italian traditional "pastas" are available in the U.S. that are  GF and/or not wheat based. lentil, chickpea, edamame, quinoa, etc. Even SOBA noodles made of 100% buckwheat are readily available. 

Spiralizers are great too. What veggies have you spiralized?   

I am a self proclaimed chef Dogwood, and well versed in the types of pasta out there. The reason why I choose to go this route is due to the high caloric content of those pastas you listed. Those pasta types are actually a tad higher in calories per serving as well.

The only pasta atm in the market place that is lower in calories is a company known by the name Fiber Gourmet, and their pasta is only 100 calories per serving (2oz/56g). Sadly they have a $9.99 shipping fee for a $4.79  8 oz. box of pasta.

Only soft veggies can be used in this spiralizer (unless cooked 1st) so zucchini,  squash, eggplant, butternut squash, cooked beets, cooked summer squash, and cooked yams.

I should also mention I am not a chickpea fan, but I love quinoa, but not as a noodle, just by itself cooked in broth with added tomatoes, sautéed onions & sweet peppers.

Porcini Polenta pan fried in olive oil with fresh mozzarella is also delicious.

Edited October 18, 2022 by Michael aka Mac
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[Dogwood]

I had a hand spiralizer. Then, went with teh same Vegetti.

Mac, you just mentioned higher cals in those wheat alternative pastas. I see them more as a slighter carb reduced higher protein % alternative. As a self proclaimed chef as you know it is the sauces or accompaniments like EVOO and mozzeralla cheese that can skyrocket the amt of cals in a wheat or alternative flour pasta dish.

Wishing you all my best with your diet.    

[Michael aka Mac]

Diet is kind of over,   lost 80 lbs. in the past 16 months  and back to my college weight days.   In actuality, the sauce and cheese people add to their pasta are more caloric than the pasta itself.  Between Covid & back issues, and lockdown, the weight went up rather rapidly thus the need for more healthy eating to stay on course to stay at this weight.

I have a pesto recipe that is ~50 calories per serving including the parmesan cheese added. The meal consists of half pasta and half spiralized veggies with the pesto sauce, yielding a 200 calorie main course.

Btw, thx for the support Dogwood.