Photo courtesy of Ali Maffucci
When I moved in with my boyfriend from my sixth-floor walk-up to an elevator building in Jersey City, I started packing on the pounds. I found myself embarrassingly too lazy to head up to my buildings’ roof-top gym and instead of cooking like I once did in my miniature kitchen, I was constantly being persuaded to order food despite finally having a normal-sized oven. That’s when I joined a boot camp and committed to working out again. I saw my body begin to transform, but I needed to improve my diet to fuel my workouts and further boost my weight loss. Being Italian and loving pasta there were just certain foods I couldn’t give up. That’s where Inspiralized comes in. Fellow Jersey City-resident, Ali Maffucci’s blog was inspired by her love of pasta, her Italian heritage, and a vegetable slicing tool (or as my boyfriend calls it, a vegetable torture device). As Ali proves on her blog (www.inspiralized.com) and in her forthcoming cook book, Inspiralized: Turn Vegetables Into Healthy, Creative, Satisfying Meals, due out in March, you can easily transform your favorite calorie-heavy meals into delicious vegetable-based ones. Ali’s blog largely focuses on dinners: zucchini noodles, sweet potato rice, butternut squash fettuccini, and the list goes on. She even uses some more uncommon veggies like taro, celeriac, and jicama. The cookbook, while containing plenty of beginner recipes involving noodles, also has ideas for breakfasts, snacks, casseroles, and desserts too. I sat down with Ali in Jersey City bright and early to talk about the Inspiralized life. But before I get to what Ali had to say, let’s cut right to the chase with 5 reasons to read.
5 reasons to read:
- These recipes are easy to follow and don’t take much time to prepare or cook. Once you have a spiralizing tool, you’ll be ready to jump right in. No training needed.
- You can spiralize for any occasion. Need an easy and healthy app to bring to a dinner party? No problem. Quick dinner after a long commute? You’re covered! Need to satisfy a carb-craving? Easy!
- Ali’s recipes will inspire you to try new things and create your own. Recipes like Blueberry Sweet Potato Waffles, Spicy Butternut Squash Nachos, Jicama-Stuffed Peppers, and Sweet Potato Carbonara will convince you—the sky is the limit when it comes to spiralizing!
- These recipes are perfect for someone trying to eat a diet high in vegetables whether for weight-loss, dietary restrictions, or overall healthfulness.
- The cookbook contains helpful tips and how-to’s, but if you just can’t get enough spiralizing, Ali’s blog and youtube site (and Instagram account) will keep you in the know, with new recipes, tips, and even fitspo. Keep Reading…
Well, folks, it’s official. I cut myself while cleaning Blade A yesterday. For those of you who spiralize, you know that Blade A makes ribbon-like veggie noodles. Besides cutting myself, my busy day ended with the Deconstructed Zucchini Manicotti from the Inspiralized cookbook. Late last year I received an ARC (Advance Reader’s Copy) of Inspiralized. In January I reviewed Ali Maffucci’s cookbook on the blog and even interviewed her (read the post here!) . When the cookbook debuted last week, I knew my black and white ARC wouldn’t cut it. And I’m so glad I purchased the published book! There are additional recipes that weren’t in the ARC and the full-color photos are stunning. Here I am, enjoying the weather last weekend with my very own copy of Inspiralized. Check out all that Ali has going on at Inspiralized.com including the release of her very own branded Inspiralizer!
Skyline Book Reviews 