60+ Paleo Spiralizer Recipes plus How to Avoid Buying a Counterfeit Paderno Spiral Slicer

Guess who's back...back again? Well, it's been a long time, my friends. It's been a crazy, stressful summer around here, so I apologize for not posting. I hope that you are all enjoying summer wherever you are.

A few months ago, my spiralizer broke. Since I have recommended this spiralizer before, especially to those of you on Facebook, I figured I should tell you guys what I found out. I purchased (what I thought was) the Paderno vegetable spiral slicer back in September, but at the end of May (after only using it a few times a month), part of the handle broke. Turns out it was a counterfeit unit (purchased through Amazon, but sold by another seller).

I also scoured the Internet for spiralizer recipes from many talented bloggers. For those of you that already have a spiralizer or plan to get one, I didn't want to leave you hanging without recipes to use this thing. It only took me a few months to put this together. ;-)

So...after contacting the company, Paderno World Cuisine, this is what I learned from the CEO:

Homemade French Onion Dip, Copycat Heluva Good (with Dairy Free Option)

without gelatin (It does get a little thicker than this after refrigeration)

My sister has been slowly transitioning her family to real food. While she has been eating real food and following a mostly paleo diet for awhile now, her husband has been reluctant to give up certain foods that he loves. One of these things -- Heluva Good® French Onion Dip. I mean, I get it. It's good stuff. It is helluva good. Once I discovered the stuff (through my brother-in-law actually), I ate tubs of it.

But once you learn about real food, you realize just how much non-food ingredients are in our food. Like what's in Heluva Good French Onion Dip (MSG, soybean oil):

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes (with coconut milk)

Do you remember when I said I was planning a mostly paleo Thanksgiving? Well, first if you still don’t know what paleo is, you can read more here. 

My family hasn’t gotten together for Thanksgiving in many years. While all of us won’t be gathering this year, a large majority of us are planning dinner together. If I am around, I am always tasked to make the mashed potatoes (and everything else). While simple, mashed potatoes can be easy to mess up. Too lumpy, too watery, too buttery (that's possible, right?). But when you get it right, the taste of real mashed potatoes is unmatched. That boxed stuff is not the same thing. And the butter. You always want butter. Sorry, dairy-free people (I eat dairy-free but seem to have no issues with good quality butter); it’s just not the same without butter.  Now, I haven’t tried ghee, so that might work. Update: Ghee works and taste lovely! I like the Pure Indian Foods brand which you can read more about in this post.