On Turning 28, Growing A Business and Being Inspiralized + Giveaway

On Turning 28, Growing A Business and Being Inspiralized

Ahhhh…. today’s the day: my birthday! Well, my 28th birthday to be exact. Oh yea,...

On Turning 28, Growing A Business and Being Inspiralized + Giveaway

Ahhhh…. today’s the day: my birthday! Well, my 28th birthday to be exact. Oh yea, and it’s also April Fool’s Day.

When I woke up this morning, I expected to feel older, different. Every year this happens, and I don’t feel any different (although my friends and family always make me feel special!)

This morning, I did! I felt more focused, more centered and that I had more to be proud of than any other year of my life thus far. Now, I know this is a food blog and not a diary-style blog, but bear with me today because, heck – it’s my birthday!!

I woke up with Lu nudging me and saying “happy birthday!” He always wakes up before me – he’s my alarm clock, because I sleep like a rock and I need someone to basically shake me or pour a bucket of ice over my head to wake me up.

When I look over at Lu, I felt it. I felt that excitement about my birthday, about my life and about the future. When I looked at him, my life was complete. I knew what I wanted, what I needed and felt grateful for what I had. All in about 5 seconds.

This year, I’m going to marry my best friend, launch a product into the marketplace and continue to pursue my dreams of making a name for myself!

There’s so much to look forward to, so much to celebrate and most importantly, so much to appreciate and be thankful for. After Lu left for work, I immediately wrote down a list of things I wanted to do today. I wanted to appreciate the little things that relax me and make me happy. I think birthdays are usually filled with so many celebrations with others, that we don’t always find time to enjoy it alone. That sounds very anti-social, haha! I just mean that it’s important to wish ourselves a happy birthday too!

So, I’ll be getting my nails done (you all know how I love a good mani) and going for a walk outside today (which I pretty much never do during the work day.)

Later tonight, I’m going to one of my favorite new restaurants (Talde) that recently opened up in Jersey City with my family – my grandparents, my parents, my sister and her boyfriend and of course, Lu. Every year, I spend my birthdays like this – with my family!

On Turning 28, Growing A Business and Being Inspiralized + Giveaway

Growing a Business and Being Inspiralized

I thought I’d reflect a bit and talk about what I spent my 27th year doing (aside from getting engaged and publishing my first cookbook!) – growing my business and being Inspiralized.

Being Inspiralized, to me, means more than just eating spiralized vegetables (although I do eat an insane amount of veggie noodles!) Being Inspiralized means being an inspired, happier and healthier version of your original self. Never in my life have I felt so blessed, so happy, so fulfilled and so excited to wake up every day.

Not to mention, Inspiralized helped me reach my goal weight and feel comfortable with my body. I’m a work-in-progress, but that work doesn’t discourage me – it motivates, inspires and encourages me!

Each day, I wake up with Lu, make coffee and sit down to read the comments and messages that came through over the night. I don’t check any e-mails at first… just my social media messages.

This is my favorite part of the day: I get to see how people are finding me all over the world. Over the night, (11pm-7:30am EST), those in the UK left me Facebook comments, followers in Asia Tweeted at me, and those on the west coast shared their dinners on Instagram. It’s mind-blowing, humbling and amazing.

Never in a million years could I have expected this. When I sat down in Starbucks on June 26th, 2013 with my dinky old laptop that I bought when I first graduated college and started Inspiralized.com, I didn’t know where to begin. All I knew was that I was going to make it work. I was going to build this community and popularize spiralizing. Talk about the power of positivity!

On Turning 28, Growing A Business and Being Inspiralized + Giveaway

Readers e-mail me often telling me about their passions and ask for advice on how to build them into a business and “go for it.” I get questions like,

“When did you know it was time to take that leap of faith?” 
“When did you first starting making enough money to survive?” 
“Did you build a business plan?”

To be perfectly frank, I didn’t know it was “time” to quit my job. It wasn’t pre-meditated, it wasn’t calculated, it wasn’t scheduled. I felt so strongly about my idea for Inspiralized that I knew my will to succeed would overcome anything. I didn’t have a business plan, I didn’t even know how you could possibly make a living off of blogging – it seemed so far-fetched, it seemed like only the glamorous could do it.

And let me tell you, there were times when I overdrew my bank account. There were times when I had to lean on Lu for help. There were so many times when I had to put ego aside and ask for help. This didn’t mean I wasn’t successful, it just meant that I was working hard and I needed support while I grew Inspiralized.

I had to give up trips to the beach on the weekends to instead write my cookbook or recipe test for the blog. I can’t just “take today off,” because my hours during the day are important for photography, cooking and writing. My money’s spent on ceramic bowls for food styling, instead of chic booties.

But you know what? It is all worth it. Every single minute of it.

There are still times when I feel like no one’s listening, no one knows about Inspiralized and I’m just a tiny little guppy in a giant ocean, struggling to keep swimming. There are times when things don’t happen as I’d hoped and those major setbacks are tough, really tough. But, the only way I know now is forward.

I’m still growing Inspiralized every single day – I wake up with Lu at 7/7:30am every day and I don’t stop working until late at night. Why? I want to be working on Inspiralized. I love what I’m doing, I love seeing you all happy with my recipes and excited over the cookbook and the Inspiralizer. Every day is different, new and an opportunity to do something special.

Life is full. And I’m thankful for that.

Happy April Fool’s, Happy first day of April and thanks in advance for all of the birthday wishes – you guys are amazing, I really mean it! 

 

with love, Ali

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comments

  • Zucchini is my new pasta of choice!
  • Happy Birthday!! I love your cookbook and website for recipes. Congratulations on all you have accomplished! :)
  • Ali, you made me giggle. ."bare with you".....oops
  • I have heartier and more fulfilling meals!
  • Happy Birthday!
  • The spiralizer made going paleo so much easier. The diet change was necessary for my health, but I loved noodles and rice. Because of my spiralizer, I can still enjoy noodles and rice: zucchini noodles, squash noodles, turnip noodles and sweet potato "rice'. Since going paleo in October, I have lost 59 lbs. I am off my diabetes medications. I feel like the spiralizer and all the great recipes at Inspiralized have given me my life back.
  • Happy Birthday Ali! Have an amazing day and enjoy your time with your family! All the best
  • I eat so much more healthy now. Veggies, veggies, veggies.
  • Happy Birthday! I have been inspired by you and the spiralizer to cook more creatively! I have always cooked, but it was never anything worth bragging about. Now I try and put my own twist on things and usually try to have one-two spiralized meal planned for the week!
  • Happy Birthday, Ali!!
  • Hope u have a great bday. I work in a hospital and I tell all my patients about the spiralizer. Several nurses have purchased them after I make my whole operating rm watch one of ur YouTube videos
  • I don't feel guilty getting a second bowl and I'm giving my husband and daughter more veggies.
  • I can eat pasta EVERY SINGLE NIGHT and not get bored b/c the base is always a different vegetable :)
  • Happy birthday Ali! I love how spiralizing has made veggies my new favorite thing to eat!
  • Happy Birthday! Thanks for all the wonderful recipes. My doctor made me give up all grains a little over a year ago and I discovered you and spiralizing. Made my meals fun again. So thanks!
  • I love reading about your journey and hope I have one someday as well! Keep inspiring and doing your thang girl!
  • Happy birthday! I love your recipes! Great way to add more veggies into my diet!
  • Ah! I just received the cookbook in the mail, and I've already make 3 recipes from it! I'm gluten free, and this has made it so much easier to eat a lot of veggies, but make them delicious in a way that my husband likes them! I LOVE IT.
  • Happy birthday! I love using my spiralizer to make lower carb versions. I'm a huge pasta fan so that really helps cut down the calories! have a great day!
  • I have felt more connected to my family since discovering you! I have learned alternative ways of eating with my family when their choices don't always agree with mine. I am so grateful to have found you, Ali! I hope you have a wonderful birthday, you deserve it <3
  • Happy Birthday! You are such an inspiration. Hoping to be able to come to your book signing to meet you. Congratulations on all your hard work and success. I love using my spiralizer it has made my cooking even more fun and different.
  • I'm so grateful you created this blog and recipes, we use them all the time. Makes my grain free life so much easier. Happy Birthday!
  • I love using the recipes to help make my pasta dishes healthier and getting more veggies into my meal planning! The cookbook has opened my eyes to a whole new world of cooking!!
  • I know I'm eating healthier eating spiralized veggies vs gut bloating pasta.
  • i don't own a spiralizer, but i've been making your recipes with zucchini ribbons! they're sooo delicious and i don't feel like i'm cheating myself out of pasta :)
  • Happy birthday! Since starting to spiralize I have fallen in love with zucchini, which I used to hate before!
  • The Spiralizer has made being gluten free/dairy free so much easier because it adds a whole new dimension of variety to cooking! It's so nice to be able to make waffles and muffins without almond flour!
  • Happy Birthday dear*
  • Eating vegetables have become more fun. Since my husband needs to be gluten free, the vegetable noodles are perfect. Plus, I don't have to worry too much about carbs even with gluten free pasta I had to worry about too much carbs.
  • I love that I feel good about enjoying classic italian style sauces now that I can make the noodles healthier!
  • Happy birthday Ali! Your recipies are amazing... so does your Inspiralizer... I'd love to have it... I'm in Greece... any ideas how can I get it? kisses, Dimitra
  • I eat more veggies and I always have an idea for whatever I find at the farmers market!
  • Happy birthday Ali! Your recipies are amazing… so does your Inspiralizer… I’d love to have it… I’m in Greece… any ideas how can I get it? kisses, Dimitra
  • I love how I feel like I'm eating an indulgent meal, but I'm not full to the brim for hours after! It's really opened up my eyes that you can have what you want in moderation, but still be able to make for fave dishes healthy. Happy birthday amazing lady -- you deserve everything coming your way this year!! xo
  • Happy birthday Ali! Zucchini noodles are the best! And it makes veggies more fun in general.
  • Can't wait to try- we have been using a Julian peeler to achieve a similar results!! LOVE
  • It hasn't.. yet.. because it's on my wish list! But I cannot wait ;)
  • Congratulations! I love my new healthy noodles and rice. Thank you!
  • Yes, I am definitely eating more veggies, eatinig healthier tho there's still that sweet tooth I have to deal with!
  • Since I discovered the spiralizer, I have more energy. An over abundance of carbs were ruling my lifestyle for so long and weighing me down. Now, zucchini noodles provide me the nutrients and energy I need without the afternoon crash.
  • I actually don't own a spiralizer (I move a lot so kitchen appliances are at a minimum) but I just wanted to comment and say I've been following your journey since pretty early on and it's so inspiring to see how much success you've had! It's often so easy to see someone's success and think, "they're so lucky...it's so easy for them." so it's great to read about some of the struggles you've had and how hard you've had to work to get where you are. Keep spiralizing!
  • We eat more veggies than ever now!
  • I love the options spiralizing gives me. Noodles? Check. Ribbons? Check. Lovely one-pot dishes? Check. Healthy, wonderful and FUN dishes? Check!
  • I love how we eat healthier - less pasta and more zucchini!
  • You have Inspiralized me, and now I am Inspiralizing everyone in my family - one dish at a time! It's fantastic. I am a pasta/carb addict, and honestly, replacing the noodles with vegetables in GENIUS and I LOVE it! Thank you!!!
  • I have loved following your recipes! I am always anxiously awaiting to see what fun ideas you come up with! Spiralizing has been a great way for us to get more veggies in our meals! And - it helps us use up those less than perfect veggies!
  • I am having more fun with cooking and eating more healthful food.
  • It's inspired me in so many ways. i don't even miss pasta that often anymore and love the nutirition i am getting from vegetables!
  • Happy Birthday Ali. Another milestone. I am "inspired" by your recipes and have shared with my son and his girlfriend. Would love to gift them a signed copy of your book or an Inspiralizer as a house warming gift. Thanks for all your hard work and all you do!
  • First off Happy Birthday! I don't have a fancy spiralizer (yet), just cheap one BUT I love that I can make any dish 1,000 times healthier by using veggies. It helps me get more veggies in my diet because you know....carbs are awesome. :) I am looking forward to making even more creations to get healthier!
  • I was introduced to the spiralizer by my Weight Watchers leader and make something with it almost every day. I also had a birthday recently and my husband got me your cookbook. It is great. I love all of the different recipes you have posted. I am not creative with recipes and I love seeing all of the things that can be spiralized that I couldn't think of.
  • I'm loving your site! You have so many great ideas for those of us who are trying to eat healthier. Thanks for inspiring us. :-)
  • It makes my meals that much easier to plan and make.
  • It's made it so easy to turn a lot of my comfort foods also into health foods! Amazing!
  • Discovering the spiralizer meant discovering inspiralized.com (via a YouTube video because I was so annoyed washing my spiralizer with a sponge!) and discovering Ali and her story. Since finding this site it has been nothing but inspiration for me and my life. Aside from yummy meals, inspiralized is a great success story of following passion and dreams and it keeps me motivated to do the same in health and in LICE. co feats I it all and happy birthday!
    • *life, and congrats! (Phone typos!)
  • It has helped me eat healthier and with this blog I have learned so many creative ways to incorporate veggies into my meals! Happy Birthday!! You are a real inspiration and I wish you luck!
  • Happy Birthday!!! :) I love your blog, FB page and all your recipes! (sorry, don't do Instagram, Twitter, etc. and I don't know how you keep up with it all LOL). You are an inspiration to other up-and-coming entrepreneurs! :) Thanks for posting on your birthday. Enjoy your day.
  • I only have a little Vegetti right now, but it has helped us find easy ways to add some veggies to our meals! I'm hoping I'll be able to order a real spiralizer (and yours at that!) soon!
  • Happy birthday! You are truly inspiring. I also learned about your website in a weight watchers meeting - and now I tell everyone!
  • This past summer, I found out that I have PCOS, which in return has caused me to watch my carbs to help control the symptoms. The spiralizer has helped me eliminate or minimize those carbs, yet still have dishes that I love to eat.
  • Happy Birthday Ali. I love your blog. Have a fantastic day!!
  • Happy birthday! The spiralizer has made eating vegetables so much more fun!
  • We rarely eat real pasta in our house anymore and we don't miss it at all!
  • Happy Birthday, Ali! Have a grrrr8 day! :-) Discovering your blog, videos, and Facebook page has made 'spiralizing' so much more fun and delicious! Thank you for your dedication and good luck with your business venture/s! :-)
  • i love your reflections on life!!! life IS full :) have the happiest of birthdays!!!!! xoxo
  • I have always wanted to get a Spiralizer! Every time I go to get one, it's sold out! Your recipes look amazing!
  • Happy birthday! You are so inspiring and I love tspiralizing veggies and fruits to increase my intake!
  • Happy, happy birthday!!! Glad you are enjoying your day!!!
  • Happy birthday - I love your recipes!
  • Makes eating pasta healthier and more fun!
  • Happy happy birthday, Ali! You have changed so many lives, including mine. I'm off to have some zoodles with pesto for lunch, thanks to you!
  • Happy birthday!!
  • I love spiralizing because it made me able to enjoy delicious pasta dishes after going grain free for health reasons!
  • I've been eating more vegetables and making prettier meals.
  • Finding new and improved veggie substitutes for my favorite food- pasta! and being inspired after finding your site by your weight loss success!
  • My life has changed since finding out about a spiralizer because I can still enjoy pasta(one of my favorite foods) without feeling guilty about all the carbs! Happy Birthday!
  • Love my Spiralizer. . .just gotta get my man to love it too!
  • My life has changed: I am eating more veggies, I am TRYING new veggies (like a daikon!), I am getting back into the kitchen, a place that is incredibly therapeautic for me.
  • Since discovering the spiralizer I've started to love vegetables! I don't ever crave carb filled pasta anymore and I feel so much healthier.
  • I have always loved my vegetables. I received a spiralizer from my daughter two years ago (would welcome a new one, however) and began "playing" with it. I discovered your site and am an avid follower (reposting and driving my family nuts, I'm sure). But, my enthusiasm isn't just from the good eats, creative use of vegetables, and weight loss. My enthusiasm is from the continued improvement in my health (I have rheumatoid arthritis) and decrease in the need for heavy drugs. Thank you. You have this sixty-five year old feel 30 again.
  • Veggie noodles and your website have changed the way my family eats. I've always been a cleaner eater but my husband and children were much happier with pastas and noodles. They are so much more willing to eat veggies in spiral form and my husband now prefers the veggie noodles over pasta. Thank you and happy birthday!!!
  • I'm loving your recipes - and your honesty about the difficulty of starting your own brand! I'm glad it's been worth it to you - I'm excited about it and I can't wait to continue to borrow your recipes and adapt with my own flair!
  • I just talked you up in a comment on a FB post with a recipe for spiral cut zucchini! They didn't use a spiralizer. :-)
  • Happy birthday, my friend! I'm in constant awe of you - your passion shines through in everything you do. And you truly have built something amazing. You're an inspiration to me and I know to thousands of others across the world. I'm sure that 28 will be the best year yet - can't wait to see what's to come!! xoxo
  • This is a great way to get my family to eat more veggies
  • Happy Birthday! Hearing you loud and clear....as I definitely know how much it is a leap of faith to jump into something you love and turn it into a business. Thank you for the positive reminder too! May
  • Happy Birthday! I am still learning how to use the Inspiralizer. I was making pastas and such until I started having issues with tomatoes (boo! hoo!) Now I have to use those without nightshades so I have been searching for sauces and stuff without them....which are a tad harder, but still can use it for potatoes and such!
  • Happy Birthday! Just using a mandoline to make straight veggetti now. Was looking at ordering the Paderno today, found your post about the knockoffs, now I will wait (anxiously) for the Inspiralizer. :-)
  • Loving your book and your blog recipes!!! Happy Birthday!!
  • Aloha and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I am able to get my grandkids to eat more vegetables than ever before because of being Inspiralized. They love "noodles".
  • Happy Birthday Ali! You should be so proud of all that you accomplished this year. Learning to spiralize has allowed me to transform recipes into healthier versions of themselves.
  • Happy birthday to the most amazing cook there is!
  • The inspiralizer has opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at healthy eating. I think spiralizing is so fun and I look forward to following your recipes as well as making up my own. Happy Birthday Ali!!!!
  • Happy Birthday Ali! I feel better since I started spiralizing, and am trying to expand the varieties of vegetables that I eat. I have your book, and like that you give substitute veggies that will work as well, and wish that you'd do that on the blog as well. I am on a special restricted medical diet and can't have beets, carrots, eggplant, potatoes, spinach, celery, sweet potatoes, curry, chili powder, walnuts, and lots of other things, so I have to use what I can have such as zucchini, celeriac, daikon, rutabaga, and several others. I enjoy both the noodles, and the vegetable rice. I found I don't like Savoy cabbage, but I'm going to try Napa. The best thing I have made is your Butternut Squash Risotto-and I used some salsa and a bit of water, and served it with refried beans on the side. Man, it was good! That recipe, the Deconstructed Zucchini Manicotti, alone were worth the price of the book I love the ricotta filling for that. I also stumbled across some Kalettes and tried the Spicy Parmesan-Garlic Zucchini Pasta with Sausage and Kalettes. It was very good as well. I'm not sure if I will continue to be able to get kalettes, or how much kale I can have, or if I'll have to adapt it, but it's very good. It turned out like your picture, too.
  • I'm eating more veggies and getting my husband and kids to eat more too! My three year old hates potatoes, but he begs me to share my potato and sweet potato noodles.
  • Happy Birthday, Ali!
  • Happy birthday! I'm excited to get more into spiralizing as I think it's a great way to add more veggies to my diet. Try as I might, I just can't seem to get all the servings that I need!
  • I've found a love of zucchini and am eating so many more veggies in everyday dishes thanks to Inspiralized and my spiralizer.
  • I eat a lot more fresh vegetables! Happy birthday,!
  • It has made making veggie pasta recipes so much easier.
  • I hope this is where you register for the drawing. I love the recipes and spiralizer concept. Love to win one. Happy Birthday, Ali!
  • I don't have a spirializer yet but I've been looking at them for awhile. I was looking at a cheap one on Amazon but it's so confusing. I noticed that you had confronted the seller bc they had ripped off your picture. I thought*if only I could ask her which one she suggested * that's when I found out that you have one!
  • Eating pasta guilt-free...who would've thought that could be true!! I've grown to love it so much more than pasta!!
  • I've incorporated tons more vegetables into our diet!
  • It has helped me incorporate more veggies into my family's meals. So easy and yummy!
  • Sto Lat!! Gratulerer med dagen!! Cumpleanos feliz!!
  • I don't use my spiralizer nearly as much as I would like to -- though you've certainly gotten me using it more! It definitely has me feeling like I'm treating myself to pasta more often!
  • So inspired that this year I plan to have a vegetable garden. First time in 30 years that I want to grow my own vegetables.
  • Not only have I been able to provide nutrient dense, calorie-light, and downright delicious meals for my little baby family, I have had the opportunity to share this discovery with my patients, one of whom was recently able to come off his blood pressure meds as a result !! There is no better feeling in the entire world. I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to be responsible for a spiralizer (or inspiralizer ;) ) in every home (and a fitbit on their wrist while they're at it) and all the benefits to their life I know it will provide.
  • Thanks to you I've been able to ween myself off of my pasta obsession and incorporate more veggies! Happy birthday to you!!!!
  • I don't miss real noodles anymore, I love it more and know that's its healthy unlike having simple carbs, made being Paleo simple, I LOVE IT and your site is amazing with a lot of great tips and recipes, thank you and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
  • I'm eating more veggies now.
  • I love spiralized meals!!
  • First off, I would like to wish you a very happy birthday. I was interested to read that you expect to feel older every year but don't. I've always done the same thing, and I can tell you that it never changes, no matter how old you get (I'll be 70 on my birthday which is just over a month away). Discovering the spiralizer has opened up new horizons for cooking. I like the variety of ways that I can now fix veggies, and the way they can substitute for pasta. I would also say that it has made me realize that my grocery store has failed me in yet another way: it doesn't carry the kind of carrots I want - ones that are truly big enough for spiralizing.
  • Happy Birthday!!
  • I'm just getting started with spiralizing and have your blog to thank! Happy birthday :)
  • I can enjoy my favorite carb-heavy meals without feeling weighed down after!! So many veggies!
  • I wasn't a big veggie eater, but since using the Sprializer and your blog I eat lots more veggies. It has helped me eat a lot healthier. I love your blog and Happy Birthday!!!
  • I have always loved being creative when I cook so when I discovered spiralizing it was just another awesome way to be creative with my food. My daughter has texture issues so when I can find a way to reintroduce old foods in a new way its great!
  • I love getting my vegetables through spiralizing!
  • I have definitely started eating healthier and vegetables i've never eaten before. It helps keeps my diabetes under control.
  • Spiralizing has me eating a wider variety of vegetables, using things like turnips and parsnips more often. Happy Birthday, Ali!
  • Happy, happy birthday, Ali! Though I've always "enjoyed" eating my vegetables, I've been more inspired and experimental in the kitchen since getting a spiralizer.
  • I have tried veggies I would have never tried otherwise, thanks for your creative recipes!
  • I don't have one... Yet! But I really want one, as I keep seeing great ideas.
  • I can get my husband to eat zucchini... and like it!
  • I am looking forward to improving my health by incorporating many more fresh veggies into my diet through my spiralizer and your awesome recipes. I just bought a spiralizer (used a gift card my parents gave me for my birthday in March) and then found your website and went out and bought your cookbook this weekend. The only dish I've fixed so far was the sweet potato -asparagus-sausage recipe from your blog. My husband and I both enjoyed it. P.S. I would love to win an Inspiralizer - I would give my more basic model to a friend. And Happy, happy birthday! Many years ago,I thought 28 was the best age to be -And no one believes people who claim to be 29. :)
  • Since I started using the spiralizer, I haven't eaten pasta or even had a craving for pasta. I used to eat pasta several times a week but no more. Instead, I think about how much more nutritious the vegetables are for me and how much better it tastes.
  • I eat so many more vegetables now that I have a spiralizer - I'm actually kind of obsessed with putting something spiralized in EVERYTHING!
  • I've been able to get my toddler (AND HUSBAND which is HUGE) to eat veggies without them knowing! I realize that I can spiralize just about anything and turn it into a tasty dinner.
  • Happy birthday and truly a huge congratulations on all your success, Ali!! Your blog was the first I checked out after I bought my Spiralizer and I am so glad I did. I still have to slowly make my way through the amazing recipes on your cookbook. I think that the Spiralizer gave me a fun way to eat veggies which completely changed my lifestyle. In terms of zucchini, it really transformed this vegetable for me and I wonder how I ever found it hard to eat zucchini before!!
  • Happy Birthday Ali! You are such an inspiration! You're so honest and personable, I feel like I know you! Keep up the great work, perseverance pays off! I'm trying to be calm waiting for my new Inspiralizer to arrive! Cas
  • i LOVE all veggies so it gives me another amazing option when deciding how to prepare my veggies :) love spiralizing!
  • I love having many other options besides spaghetti squash to keep the carbs off our plates!
  • Honestly I don't get to use it enough. Someday soon
  • Being able to spiralize veggies has changed my life by getting my 2 children to actually eat veggies! They are 2 and 3 so it has created many victories at the dinner table.
  • I've only just discovered spiralizing and cannot wait to reap the benefits. Whilst I do need to lose weight...it more about the health benefits for me. Watch this space! ;-)
  • I've made some really great recipes. It is such a fantastic concept, I have been sharing the website with everyone I know! One of my co-workers immediately ordered one from the site.
  • I am so excited to try the recipes in the new cookbook!
  • Would love to have an inspiralizer so that I too can join in and experience the wonderful recipes you present. Happy birthday and much success to you!
  • yes
  • thanks to your site, i've definitely learned some new, fun ways to incorporate veggies into my diet!
  • I love the recipes!!
  • I've gotten my whole family to eat healthier, and we're trying new things!
  • Happy Birthday Ali! Thanks for all the inspirations you given me to diversify my diet and help my family be healthier!
  • Spiralizing has given me inspiration (inspiralization) to lose more weight and eat more healthier by replacing high carb pastas in my diet. It's too bad I only have the cheap version of the spiralizer that won't accommodate large veggies!!
  • No more cut fingers trying to grates my beets or other veggies.
  • All these items look awesome! I am crossing my toes and fingers that I will win. :)
    • I have not done any inspiralized but hope to learn more about it.
  • I'm Inspiralized to change my diet and get my weight under control.
  • I looooove my inspiralizer SO MUCH. I am currently working with a fitness & nutrition coach and she is having me eat ALOT more than I was and all the inspiralized recipes not only help me reach my nutrition goals, but, they make eating healthy taste sooooo delicious! I've made so many recipes from your cookbook and posted them recently, that I know at least 3 friends have also purchased an Inspiralizer because they love my pictures. All my friends ask "where are you getting these amazing recipes, so I constantly post your blog for them to see all of your inspiralizing amazing-ness! Thanks for assisting me on my health journey and helping it taste oh so yummyyy!!!
  • I honestly can't imagine not having spiralized everything in our lives!! It makes it so easy to add tons of veggies to every meal and helps us enjoy all the dishes while sticking to a paleo diet!! I was SO tired of spaghetti squash!!
  • Buying your cookbook & reading your blog motivates and encourages me to use my spiralizer more often; before that I would totally forget I had one! I am always happy when I eat "spiralized" food and surprised that my husband and son have enjoyed the results. This week's experiment: Beets. Your video was super timely. Thanks for never giving up.... (just like Churchill's famous words)
  • Since finding the spiralizer, it means that I can eat "pasta" again. I've always said that I must have a little Italian in me because of my love for pasta! A couple of years ago I was diagnosed with a wheat allergy, which meant I had to go gluten free. I haven't been able to find any gluten free noodles that even compare to regular pasta, and that has been a real bummer! The spiralizer has opened my eyes to using vegetables for my noodles, and not only do they taste great, but it's also a lot healthier. I've really enjoyed this website because it has shown me that there are a lot more varieties of vegetables that I can spiralize than I even thought I could, and a lot more recipes that I want to try!
  • Happy Birthday! I love the recipes and ideas you have created. I am looking forward to using my new Inspiralizer when it gets here. Your cookbook is great. For now I improvise with how I cut the veggies. I like having new ways to cook veggies, other then steaming them. I also, love the idea of using them to replace pasta and rice. Thank you for making it so easy. Also, your website and videos are done so beautifully and professional, great job.
  • A friend of my showed me Insprialized a while back and I didn't buy the spiralizer until a few months ago...let me just say I should have done it sooner! I am--for lack of a better term-- OBSESSED with spiralizing and this website and Ali!! I've struggled with eating and weight my entire life (like so many others!) and spiralizing has helped me eat more veggies, try veggies I've never had before and still enjoy my Italian families cooking while still being healthy! I too have Sunday family dinners with my extended family and whenever we have pasta I bring my carrot noddles so I can fully enjoy everything without feeling guilty! I look forward to your daily blog post Ali and this all web site is just wonderful!!!
  • I love how spirilizing has allowed me to incorporate more veggies into our diet. I missed eating pasta when I reduced my carb intake and now I can fill that craving with veggie noodles!
  • After multiple food allergies, the Inspiralizer has made meal planning a lot easier. I can incorporate vegetables seemlessly into our meals and it allows me to continue cooking traditional meals without my allergens. I love it!
  • I love how I am using all the veggies that come in my CSA box and using wonderful new recipes. Happy Birthday!
  • I definitely eat more veggies and less pasta.
  • I can't wait to get mine!! Reading everyone's comments just makes me want it to hurry!! I'm hoping to win the cookbook ; ) Happy Birthday, thank you for all you do!
  • You are such an inspiration Ali! I'm 22 years old and have been trying to push myself to start a blog. I know it's hard work, but my goal is for it to be something that I am so passionate about that I want to be spending every second of my day working towards it. Not to mention, I spiralize veggies all the time and brag about it to everyone I come into contact with. My mom begs me to come over and bring spiralized veggies with me! Happy birthday! You deserve all of your success. (ALSo, it must take forever to go through all these comments, girl!)
  • Happy, happy birthday Ali!! My family is forever struggling to find ways to eat healthier; we grew up with all my grandparent's recipes from the Old World (which is to say I ate some form of red meat and potatoes or rich stews with almost every meal haha). My mom is an amazing cook, and learned how to make healthier recipes as my sister and I got older, and I even got them to try sushi and some vegan recipes I loved making haha! I had seen the spiralizer many times, and when I found your website I sent it to my mom and she immediately bought 2 "vegettis," specifically for us to try your zucchini noodle recipes. I am still OBSESSED with your zucchini tuna noodle casserole, it's the only healthier version of a casserole that still tastes amazing to me (and that my husband will actually fight me for the leftovers :-). However I started seeing all these other great recipes on here with veggies that really need the spiralizer, so I broke down and bought one when I knew your cookbook was coming out, and it has been SO worth it!! Now I can make everything!! Except now I need to get my parents one too ha, so I'm hoping to get your Inspiralizer when it comes out so I can give Mom my current spiralizer and she can try all your other great non-zucchini recipes too!! :-) Thank you for helping us find easy ways to get veggies in to our diet without feeling like we're sacrificing all the great pasta and less healthy dishes.
  • Ahhh so many ways!! I love love love pasta and now I don't have to feel the guilt (an extra pounds) when I cook all my favs!
  • Happy Birthday! I am loving the cookbook. I don't start to even think of a dinner for my family before going over the recipes. My husband and my kids were at first laughing at my over the top excitement, and now they are looking in Inspiralized cookbook themselves....so we are all better for it. I am always so excited when getting your newsletter (so many great ideas) and can't wait to get the (In)spiralizer that I pre-ordered. My old spiralizer will be going to a good friends home so the love of spiralizing will spread. I am so happy that I found this site. One of my favorite web places :) . Thank you and keep up the great work.
  • Happy happy. The cookbook is really great. I'm using my spiralizer more each week and eating more healthy. I am a finicky child when it comes to eating my vegetables, so to inspire me to branch out and try new vegetables prepared in a new way is a big deal. I can't wait for the local farmers markets to open for spring. Keep up the awesome work.
  • happy birthday! even though I am a vegetarian, the spiralizer has changed the way i eat - for the better. Before the spiralizer, i ate a lot of pasta but I now have a way to add more veggies to my day... an that is an awesome thing! I'm hoping I win your new spiralizer as my plastic one just broke after 8 months of almost daily use!
  • Happy happy birthday! Since I've started spiralizing my vegetables, I've eaten more vegetarian dishes than I had in the past - which actually results in saving more money! (Meat can be expensive, and though I'm definitely an omnivore, I'm not complaining one bit about my vegetable-centric diet.)
  • Happy birthday, Ali! I was hesitant about buying a spiralizer at first but I'm so glad I did! I've been having a lot of fun spiralizing and have been eating more vegetables as a result. Which is great for my fitness goal!
  • I love that I'm adding so many more fresh veggies to my day!
  • I have tried many new vegetables with my inspiralizer. I would love to win the cookbook.
  • I eat so many more vegetables now, and it makes me super excited as the seasons change to find both new veggies as well as new seasonal flavor combos!
  • As a diabetes educator, I use and refer patients to your inspiralized website all the time. I print off many of the recipes for them to try at home. They love that they don't have to give up their cane loaded pasta and have. A healthy alternative available. My favorite (and my family's favorite recipe is the mustard and maple flavored zucchini rice with goat cheese and bacon!!!)
    • Carb loaded pasta- sorry my phone "autocorrected" incorrectly
  • My mom plans on buying me a spiralizer for Christmas but I want one sooo bad and don't want to wait. Must have patience! Meanwhile I'm using my mandolin to julienne zucchini and dreaming of all the other recipes I want to make that once I get a spiralizer. Can't wait!
  • I Love, Love, love my spiralizing the recipes are great. I made the Chili with celeriac rice for dinner last night.
  • When I discovered your blog and bought my spiralizer shortly after, I knew I had found something life-changing! I've recently set a goal to make spiralized meals at least 2 times a week and I’m absolutely loving this new way of cooking. Being able to eat my vegetables in the form of rice and pasta is just brilliant. Every day I continue to be inspired by your innovative recipes, beautiful photographs, motivation to be fit, and your uplifting words. Congrats on all of your accomplishments!
  • Happy birthday! And I love spiralizing and now so do my sister and mom! Lately I have been trying to focus on more veggies in my diet and found that I can literally throw zucchini noodles in everything, sandwiches, salads etc. And I can use them as a base to throw together a healthy work lunch and I'm loving it. I reference your cookbook often and look forward to new blog recipes too.
  • I was missing pasta, but now I can make veggie noodles so get yummy food that's even better for me!
  • I'be enjoyed your blog very much. It's so informative.
  • First things first. I love your recipes, bought your book and love everything in it but I think my favorite part of your site/brand is your YouTube Channel. My inspirialized experience has been awesome with your instructional videos and opened my eyes to other veggies I can spiralize! So thank you!
  • Happy first full day of being 28 Ali!!! You are such an inspiration. Thank you for sharing parts of your life, especially in such a classy and supportive way. Finding your blog tipped me over the edge after obsessing about buying a spiralizer for months. I was afraid it would be a space taking gadget in my very small kitchen that I would rarely use. But I use it EVERY day thanks to you and your recipe inspiration! I've lost a lot of weight and my boyfriend has even started eating healthier, which used to be a tough sell. I'm saving up for your Inspiralizer (it looks fantastic) and have already requested your cookbook for my birthday next month. :) Stay you! Thanks again for everything and happy 28 years and 1 day! Xo
  • i have heard so many good things about the inspirilizer but haven't had the chance to try it yet. Would love to because I am trying to incorporate more vegetables into our diet. Happy Birthday! I am also an April baby.
  • Weirdly, spiralizing has totally changed the way we eat as a family! With 2 young kids, dinner has always been a torturous hour of begging and bribing and crying (them and me) when it came to the veggies. But, shape it like a noodle and they are IN!!! Dinner is so much more pleasant!
  • I love making these recipes, but its difficult without an Inspiralizer.
  • I only have a little, cheap spiralizer, but already I am eating way more veggies than I ever used to.
  • We eat so many more vegetables now that I have a spiralizer. Brilliant!
  • I think the best thing is getting my husband to eat the veggie noodles, he's pre-diabetic and needs to stop with the pasta so this is a nice way to wean him. I would love to try some more of the recipes with the bigger veggies (beets, hard squash), but now I'm living with the little hand-held job to make the noodles, sometimes I do matchsticks with the knife which works too
  • Eating inspiralized helps me keep with my paleo & whole30 goals! Eating well keeps me energized and feeling good!
  • I love your blog! The recipes are great and my children love them as well! Happy Birthday!!
  • My husband, who has diabetes, eats zucchini noodles with my homemade spaghetti sauce now. I can't believe it. My sons do too. And it really wasn't even hard. Who knew?
  • I've really enjoyed discovering an alternative to stodgy carbs. That's not to say that I've cut pasta and rice completely out of my diet, but I am definitely eating much less of them, which has definitely aided a bit of weight loss. People at work are fascinated with my lunches, and I've persuaded more than one person to buy a spiralizer. The only problem is my freezer isn't big enough for all the spiralized veggies :-)
  • Have a wonderful birthday!
  • Happy Birthday. So happy for you and how your life is unfolding. I made a big shift in my life at 30 and it has been great. May you and Lu have a beautiful life together. Know that this work you are doing is a contribution to everyone.
  • So happy to have found your blog so I can make use of my spiralizer, and make foods look fun as well as taste-tempting. Happy Birthday.
  • Happy Belated Birthday, Ali! I just recently discovered your website and I lurve your philosophy on eating and spiralizing! I just got a spiralizer (the Paderno tri-blade one) and your cookbook earlier this week. Just made my first spiralized creation with parsnip noodles. It looks like a big ol' bowl of spaghetti! And it's yummy! I'm hooked. I hope to get The Inspiralizer next payday (unless I win this giveaway...lol)! :) I know what I'm giving for gifts this year. Your cookbook and The Inspiralizer! It's truly amazing. Thank you. Sorry for rambling! :) <3
  • I'm now able to use all the zucchini that I can grow :)
  • I have a gluten sensitivity, so zoodles help me whenever I crave pasta. It's my best kitchen tool. I bought my daughter one for Christmas and she is hooked as well.
  • I got a Spiralizer last Christmas after a very traumatic year. My husband and I had been married for 9 months when he tore his meniscus and ACL in an intramural softball tragedy. Not to be outdone, 2 weeks later I shattered and dislocated my ankle sliding into third base. Needless to say, exercise stopped immediately for both of us. We gained a little wedded bliss weight, and then put even more on after each of our surgeries and recoveries. We have since spent the last 3 months watching what we eat, and spiralizing anything we can! Since we can't compete in sports for another 6 months or so, God willing, we've had fun cooking together and finding fun exciting ways to cook some of our favorite dishes. Hopefully, all well shedding some of our handicapped weight. Oh, and our dachshund doesn't mind the sliced off ends or the center cores either!
  • It's made my meals more creative!
  • Have tried out new recipes and have been eating more veggies because of it.
  • So exciting! I've gotten my family hooked on spiralizing, it's the only types of meals that I request when I go home for break!!
  • I love using the spiralizer to create healthy paleo meals focused on veggies!
  • Meal ideas are endless and forever being adapted, put together and varied to suit all tastes, seasons, cuisine etc. No two dishes are the same. Plus, spiralling vegetables add fun, texture, and nutrition to ever meal :) thank you Ali x
  • I eat a lot more veggies since learning how to inspiralize. Great replacements for high carb grains while I'm on the Paleo diet.
  • Spiralizing allows me to have "spaghetti" with my kids!
  • I have never heard of this before but I am also new to eating paleo and I would love to look into info aabout spiralizing since I love veggies and I would love to try them as noodles.
  • I am eating so much more healthier :)
  • Since I don't have one, I guess it hasn't changed my life -- yet! But my friend has one and she's made some awesome dishes that I'd love to try myself!
  • I recently bought your cookbook and my healthfood-shunning partner is already a massive fan of courgette noodles (UK subscriber. ;)) Congratulations on all you've achieved and keep up the good work - I love reading your inspirational recipes!
  • So inspiring!! Happy Birthday :)
  • I recently went grain and gluten free so your recipes and the inspiralizer have opened up a ton of meal options. Happy Birthday!!!
  • Trying to eat paleo and 'convert' my husband could never worked if I did not include spiralized pasta in our menu! I had spiralizer for a while before you started your blog - actually, saw it (all stainless steel version for over 100 € ) on French stand at Milan HORECA Fair in 2005 . It was to high price for me at the time, and since then I looked for it everywhere - cheaper version if possible. Got it in 2008 on Durban Food and wine fair, but now Nautarlwise site sells them in South Africa. So, I also bought few more for my daughter, nice, friend...I used it sparingly before we went more paleo, but now it gets used quite often, and your recipes add needed inspiration! Thank you - and good luck for your 2015 plans!
  • My whole family is eating healthier! We've cut out a lot of starches and are eating more veggies! So delicious and so good for you!
  • I'm happy to eat meals with no starches since zoodles are so good!
  • our veggies are more fun
  • I haven't started spiralizing yet. :( I guess I just don't know where to start! A cookbook and the proper equipment would be faaaaabulous! Love your posts btw, I have been following you for a while!
  • My life has changed b/c it has opened my mind to new possibilities for gluten free food!
  • I loved reading this post. I left my job in October to make something of myself, so your story certainly resonates. There are days I wonder if anyone is listening as well, and there are days I work 15+ hours...but I just keep swimmin' because I love what I do and I have hope it'll turn into something big and wonderful one day. You are a big inspiration to me and testament that great things can happen if you follow your heart and stick with it! I've had a Spiralizer for a year, and it has unlocked a whole side of creativity I didn't know I had in the kitchen. I'm making tacos out of sweet potatoes and pizza with beet noodles...something I never would have imagined before!
  • I want to try it for the 1st time. Thanks!
  • Unfortunately I do not have a spiralizer, but I would love to try it! Thank you so much for the opportunity.
  • I find it so much easier to get my servings of veggies in with the spiralizer, and I thank you for giving me so many great recipes!
  • I am eating more veg & my husband likes the food I make w it. Also, I have gifted your cookbook & spiralizer to my niece & a girlfriend. Just so happy. My niece is jewish. Her family is extatic that they can eat 'spaghetti' for Passover. Thanks!
  • I got a spiralizer and love making new dishes. I feel better when I eat better and have more energy. I can really feel the difference. :)
  • Can't wait until the Inspiralizer starts shipping! I'm so excited about not having to worry about losing the individual plates!
  • Spiralizing has made cooking healthy meals so much easier and fun!!! And I love telling people about it and getting them hooked so they can cook healthier meals!
  • My Son now loves Zucchini!! He never liked it until we started Inspirializing . Now he always asks me to buy Zucchini so he can inspiralize it and then make his own creation with it. Thanks for the help!
  • I feel healthier with so much more energy. I am so much more optimistic, ready to try new things. Happy Birthday and thank you.
  • I recently discovered your site, just ordered your spiralizer, and just entered your giveaway. I am on the beginning of my spiralized journey, am looking forward to start spiralizing. Pasta is my weakness, so I'm glad there's a healthy alternative. Thanks for all your hard work in helping the world get healthier by spiralizing!
  • I've become a healthier cooker and inspired others to do the same!
  • I love using the spiralizer for creating much healthier alternatives to my favourite refined carb pasta/noodle/rice dishes.
  • I've figured out that I feel a lot better eating less grains and more vegetables, and spiralizing is a great way to do that! And to be creative in the kitchen! Your recipes always look delicious :)
  • I've had to cut out most grains and being able to spiralize veggies has been an awesome alternative!
  • I've had to go glutten free and spiralizing vegetables has filled the cravings I have for pasta. I am excited about finding this blog and learning other ways to use spiralized fruits and vegetables.
  • It hasn't yet (I don't have a spiralizer) but I'm hoping to win one and start eating more veggies that way!
  • Happy birthday!!! I hope you have a most wonderful day ever!
  • Since I've acquired a spiralizer, I've discovered new ways of preparing foods that I had never thought of before, such as using butternut squash as fettuccine noodles - how brilliant! I love my spiralizer.
  • The Inspiralized cookbook really helps me stick to my low carb lifestyle :)
  • Spiralizing is the best (and most fun) way to eat more veggies. It makes cooking fun and creative again!
  • The recipes offered on inspiralized have reinvigorated my excitement to eat vegetables!! So many different options now :)
  • The spiralizer allows me to be so much more creative with my paleo/primal cooking! From entrees to side dishes, the spiralizer gives me so many more options that my family never seems to get tired of my cooking!
  • Zoodles....that's all I can say! my kids love them and I love being able to make fancy beets and carrots for my salad. Lol!
  • My family is eating healthier and love having new veggie options.
  • Since discovering a gluten allery, spaghetti just isn't an option (most of the time) - I couldn't believe how tasty zoodles were (and how fun to make!) and since downloading your app, I've moved to sweet potatoes, cucumber and other veggies! I've even gotten my boyfriend and parents into the idea of 'spiralizing'. It makes me more excited to eat vegetables!
  • I am on a quest to lose 90 pounds after my doctor diagnosed me with high blood pressure. If that wasn't incentive enough, my first grandchild was born in October. He deserves to have a heath grandmother! I so enjoy your Instagram posts. You make healthy food look splendid!
  • I just got my cookbook in the mail yesterday and I can't wait to try it!
  • I love looking at all the pretty pictures and recipes. I'm at the beginning of my journey and the inspiralizer looks like a great place to start.
  • I'm obsessed with zoodles, but only have one one that looks like a pencil sharpener, which is okay for zucchinis, but this spiralizer is a must for me for all the other veggies and recipes!!
  • I get home late from work and eat the crockpot meal my family has already eaten. With the spiralizer I'm able to enjoy veggies easily with my meal by prepping them ahead of time!
  • I have LOVED using my spiralizer and the amazing Inspiralized cookbook! If I win, I will donate my winnings to my family to help them get inspired to eat right and stay healthy and finally prove to them that eating healthy is not hard, especially with the spiralizer!
  • Spiralizing has definitely added some versatility in my cooking! No more just steamed and roasted veggies. Congrats on everything you have accomplished so far, and the bigger things to come!
  • Hope you had a wonderful birthday and here's to another wonderful year! You've really accomplished a lot for 28! Best wishes, Kim :)