You may have recently heard about all the benefits of eating as many raw meals as possible. Quality kitchen tools such as a mandoline, spiralizer, dehydrator, and juicer are fantastic aides for making all of your own raw meals.

A spiralizer machine turns vegetables like zucchini into spiraled, curly strands. It can turn mostly any veggie into noodle form. This machine is the ideal tool to make raw pasta strands for recipes such as Raw Zucchini Pasta with Creamy Avocado-Cucumber Sauce and Spaghetti Squash with Alfredo Sauce. You can find this tool relatively cheap on the Internet, or you could splurge and find a nicer, expensive model. For about $25, you can get a saladacco spiral slicer.

If you’re interested in eating more raw meals or making healthier noodles from vegetables, but don’t want to purchase any additional pricey tools, though, don’t fret. There are other ways to make those zucchini and squash noodles you’ve been eyeing on Pinterest.

One way to make noodles out of vegetables is to use a julienne peeler such as the Zyliss Julienne Peeler, which is cheaper to purchase than a spiralizer. On Amazon, the Zyliss peeler is available for less than $10 a pop.

Once you have a julienne peeler, it’s simple to use it to make raw pasta. For zucchini, wash and cut off the top. Take the julienne peeler and scrape it from top to bottom, rotating on all four sides. You’ll have noodle-like pieces that you can top with a delicious basil pesto sauce and sweet tomatoes.

What if you don’t own a julienne peeler, or don’t want to spend even the $10? That’s just fine! To turn vegetables into ribbons to use as pasta without buying a new tool, try using whatever vegetable peeler you have in your kitchen. It may take longer and be more tricky to use, but you’ll save cash if you don’t have a spiralizer. Use what you have for now, and place a nice julienne peeler on your wish list. For less than five bucks, you can get a Kom Kom Miracle Zig Zag Julienne Blade Thai Multi Purpose Knife. You can julienne, engrave, peel, and core fruits and vegetables with this cheaply priced tool. You can even try with your plain ol’ veggie peeler — your veggie noodles may not be pretty, but they’ll still be noodles, and they’re sure to be as delicious as they are nutritious.

Practice using handheld, cheap kitchen tools to make vegetable pasta. By replacing store-bought, dried pasta with vegetable spirals, you’ll be gaining a lot more nutrition from your meal.

Image source: Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Noodles