Firstly, let me remind you that I am not vegan, vegetarian, raw purist, paleo or any other strict dietary regime stickler! I firmly believe in wholefoods – veggies, fruit, legumes, meat, fish and dairy in moderation and prepared in a way that keeps them nutritionally intact and still super yummy.

There is no harm in borrowing divine recipes and techniques from vegans, vegetarians, raw foodies and pro-paleo though. Those people really know how to make the most of coconuts.

So! After being inspired by Jacqui’s recipe for Zucchini Pasta, I went on the hunt for my own vegetable spiralizer to recreate her masterpiece. A spiralizer turns your plain-jane vegetable into a source of noodles that, dolled up with herbs, spices and pesto, are lunch and dinner brilliance.

I discovered the Raw Food Institute of Australia during my spiralizer hunt and it is a treasure trove of raw food recipes and information on how to become a qualified raw food chef. The Institute was founded by Lucy Walter, a naturopath and nutritionist. It is her recipe for Zucchini Fettucine that truly won her a new fan (me!).

If you like something a bit more fancy and intense flavoured, go for her Pesto Pasta with Nut Crumble.

Also, here is a killer find. If you love raw or you just want to try it but you really don’t want to make the effort to prepare it yourself, there’s a whole section where cafes are reviewed. From Monk Bodhi Dharma in Melbourne to Bliss Organic in Adelaide, you can find a raw food joint at home or on holiday.

After playing around on the site and looking up recipes, books, kitchen utensils and cafe reviews, I finally did set my sights on the spiralizer and it is a whole lot of health-food bang for my bucks. At approx $40 it is going to create healthy lunch and dinners that can be stored in the fridge, taken to work and best of all, it’s simple enough that I don’t need a guidebook to use it. Nobody needs fidgety gadgets at mealtimes. Get one. We’ll share recipes.

One more big shout out! Love bubbles were a-poppin' in the blogosphere today as Loveface Beauty shared my skin-lovin' recipe on her Instagram.

www.therawfoodinstitute.com.au