Anti-inflammatory recipes help you practice daily meal prep and healthy eating habits, that pay off in your long run toward longevity. Below are recipe links from this blog to inspire your year, no matter what season you’re in. To your anti-inflammatory life! 🎉
Because an anti-inflammatory diet helps protect against inflammation in the body (skin, joints, teeth, vital organs) that are health warning signs.
And preventing inflammation flare-ups help protect against and prevent chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases that are still among the highest causes of mortality.
Chronic inflammation is linked to tell-tale body signs that can also lead toward certain cancers and cognitive decline.
And type 2 diabetes (or lifestyle diabetes) is the one of the fastest growing diseases on our planet. No matter what genes you were bestowed, anti-inflammatory habits help fight against what’s stacked up against you in the environment that you don’t have control over.
Anti-inflammatory foods were and are a leading source of prevention, where anti-inflammatory spices are a big deal. Adding more spice in your life and to your diet helps support better health and longevity.
And sticking to an anti-inflammatory diet is also a remedy from following Diet Culture of some kind. It’s a long-term healthy eating strategy.
Where whole and minimally processed healthy food and ingredients in meals and bakes you eat are at the core of anti-inflammatory foods and your health eating. Anti-inflammatory foods are real (nutritious) foods that the body recognizes as healthy
And this includes plant-based foods, so eating plant-forward helps the body. And foods on a Mediterranean diet, which is a type of anti-inflammatory diet that includes healthy proteins and healthy fats, such as wild fishes and olive oil.
👉 To learn more, grab my FREE Anti-Inflammatory Diet Food Guidewith printable food lists to help you make more healthy decisions for grocery food shopping. And get insights about an anti-inflammatory diet in the free guide.
And here on these pages of Anti-Inflammatory Lifestyle (Winter/Spring edition), you’ll discover simple and easy recipes you can make weekly. And get inspiration about anti-inflammatory living and seasonal foods you can lean into (that are more abundant and coins per ounce). To turn the pages forward/backward, click on the arrows at the lower corners of the pages. ↪
One of my favorite meals is weekend brunch. 😊 You can make your own no-butter bearnaise for a lower-calorie and anti-inflammatory-infused olive oil brunch sauce to pair with delicious savory meals like Eggs Benedict (with French bistro vibes🍽️). You can make this recipe and other healthy-conscious (but always tasty) waffle iron recipes.
And low-sugar desserts where the sweet tooth list is growing (variety is the spice of life! 🍥)
🍴You can also get more anti-inflammatory recipes and food ideas for the table from the Summer/Autumn anti-inflammatory food recipes. 🥄 That for some may be the season you’re celebrating and living out (literally or figuratively!).
00 vs bread flour is the difference in pizza crust style, and for making light and airy pizza crusts you may dream about from a pizzaiolo, or New York’s finest pizza shops.
…Which btw, good pizza is not in the water, despite the old saying. 😀
It starts with a consistent flour choice that will help make consistent pizza crusts you like, and that you can make for weekly and daily meals… oh, and they’re healthy ones you put on the table.
And that can be the first pizza myth bust (where you’ll find more myths below)…
Pizzas can be healthy topped meals if you watch the cheese portions that have protein, but are high in fat. You can add cheese puddles and not fields.
Then you can add your elevated paired healthy flavor toppings. For someone like me that would be ideas light tomatoes, and veggies like peppers, mushrooms, onions, greens, and other plant-based ingredients on top. Have you seen my tofu as pepperoni pizza?
Pizzas are a good opportunity to add the kitchen sink as we would say when I was a teenage pizza maker for 4 years, working in one of the busiest pizza delivery franchise stores in the world.
Plus you can add ontop, anti-inflammatory spices like oregano, pepper flakes, and a za’atar blend. And even turn your pizza into smoky taste with turmeric and smoky paprika spices.
…I mean, who doesn’t love pizza for the taste and topping variety?
But it alls starts with the pizza crust that should be the best part and not leftover on a plate.
Here’s the skinny: you start with the choice of 00 vs bread flour.
Or whole wheat flour or whole wheat bran with more fiber if you’re being more health-conscious and want to add in some.
Below I help you decide, and even bust a couple common pizza crust making myths.👇
But let’s start with where 00 flour came from… and if you’re not familiar, it was named by Italians for how finely ground the flour is.
“00” flour is an Italy naming based on its flour ground-milled fineness. Bread flour is not as fine and named by its protein content. They’re almost uncomparable, but those are our common choices on the grocery shelves.
And bread flour’s uses is in the name. It’s used for many bread purposes besides pizza crust. It’s more about the protein content where bread gluten protein is higher than in 00 flour.
So without knowing more, with “bread” in the name you can guess that bread flour can yield rising airy crusts because of the other bread products you’ve seen in the world.
But you’ll be able to see more for yourself below.
And this may help sway you or help you re-think your flour grocery store purchase choice, and if you need 00 pizza flour at all (that everyone talks about as the one to use for pizza crusts… and maybe the same people that referred to “it’s in the water” for best crusts 😀).
And for this person, 00 flour is not the better flour choice for pizza if you’re looking for a possibly high rise pizza crust, which of course, is subjective to tastes… as in, you decide what you like or prefer.
…But most people would agree that a GREAT pizza crust is an airy and lighter pizza crust, like a wood-fired, Neapolitan-style crust with some bread pockets or bubbling action along with some added brown charring leopard spots. 😊
For me, hands down… that’s my favorite too! The kind that almost melts in your mouth with the cheese.
And if that’s what you like too, bread flour is the better choice for pizza crusts as the rustic airy pockets are endless possibilities. It’s up to the magical oven!
…Oh, and not to mention you can use the remaining bag of bread flour for other common daily bread baking applications.
In comparison (and all fairness to 00 flour), it will yield more uniform (less rustic) pizza crusts that are more like grocery frozen section pizzas after you bake it in the oven.
They’re great for everyday enjoyment, and especially afterschool specials and soccer kids, if that’s what you’re after.
…And with either 00 vs bread flour choice, you can make delicious daily pizza crusts in your home oven and save ordering pizza dollars – recipe below 👇).
But 00 flour is not necessarily the wood-fired effect pizza choice.
That’s a myth.
And while we’re busting myths here, lemme give you the summary low-down so far:
Myth #1: 00 flour will give you a more airy pizza crust than bread flour
The opposite is true. Bread flour will give more rustic-style pizzas where air pockets form in spots like an inflating balloon, but those are as unpredictable as charring spots.
00 flour on the other hand will yield a more even-style crust.
In a way, bread flour makes for a more exciting pizza crust making experience and 00 flour makes for a more predictable one.
It’s counterintuitive to what you would think bread flour would do as the heavier (less fine) flour choice. Because in other applications, bread flour also makes heavy-duty rolls and bread loaves for your daily meals, so naturally you’d think it’s heavier… oh, and with more gluten.
You would think “fine” (in 00 flour) means resulting in light bakes, like cake flour (vs. all purpose flour) in an angel food cake.
But not so with 00 flour (vs. bread flour) for baking pizza crusts in a hot oven.
And that’s where the magical oven comes into play and it’s predictable that way.
The proof is in the oven baking results. This is an 100% bread flour pizza crust that is light and airy with some puffy air pockets that would make a better air bag… and is a nice food pillow that is about to enter the mouth.
This is a 00 flour crust. It’s much more uniform than a bread flour pizza crust that has been baked the same in a regular kitchen oven with a bake and broil setting.
And this is a pizza made from half bread flour and half “00” flour, that has more of the 100% 00 flour pizza crust characteristics (as the 00 less rising flour will bring down the bread airy-rising flour).
It’s subtle but noticeable if you make enough pizzas.
Myth # 2: you can’t make light and airy crusts from a regular home oven
Yes, of course you can make pizza crusts from a home oven, similar to the kind you find from professional restaurant ovens, pizza ovens, and wood-fired ovens. I do this regularly in my kitchen.
You don’t need a fancy outdoor pizza oven even though that may sound like a dreamy idea that’s fun for entertaining. And you definitely don’t need a wood-fired oven or to even to go to a pizza establishment that has one…
You can make your own star tasty pizzas that look like professional pizzas from your home kitchen or apartment oven that has a bake and broil setting.
…And if that sounds good to you, then keep coming back for more pizza crust tips and healthy food topping inspiration. 🎉
Beet green smoothie is a way to make a sweet and healthy smoothie you’ll love… that is so refreshing!
You can have a healthy and deliciously sweet green smoothie that’s not a bitter one. It’s great for breakfast or a daily sweet break.
…You can beet that!
Where to get the beets? Find a local farm or farmers market. There you can find the greens directly from the source without having to grow your own garden or driving hours out of your metro city.
And beet greens are some of the healthiest greens on the planet.
They are full of anti-inflammatory ingredients like A, C, E vitamins. Plus minerals including magnesium that we usually don’t get daily enough of compared to say, potassium that’s on many food labels.
But you shouldn’t go overboard with beets, as with most good things in life.
Even healthy foods are good up to a certain point. Moderation is the sweet spot. And a smoothie a day is one way.🧉
With fiber, this helps your gut and is good for healthy weight maintenance.
And if you have extra beet greens: you can make a nice anytime salad that’s similar to a spinach salad.
What will make it extra special, says my catering self 😊, is wilting the greens with heat and about a teaspoon of water. That softens the greens. And then to take the bland taste to an extra special WOW, add a few douses of garlic powder (I find fresh whole garlic too strong), pears or apples, and walnuts for a crunch.
Fresh farm salads don’t need a salad dressing, but if I were to add one it would be with balsamic vinegar and Buffalo mozzarella (or substitute with other mild white cheeses, and even cottage cheese).
But now it’s breakfast time… and a sweet breakfast smoothie will do! And a beet stalk is my new happy Twizzler.
These are the simple beet green smoothie ingredients: beet greens, natural peanut butter, and a banana.
The most pure peanut butter to buy that’s good for a healthy smoothie has just roasted peanuts and salt in the ingredients (that you stir).
And if peanut butter or banana is not your vibe, but sweet IS… beets also play great with berries! You can make a beet blueberry smoothie that has a punch or make an after fasting herbal rose beet smoothie… schhweeeet and sweet!
Simply blend and enjoy! Or add your other healthy goodies like chia or flax seeds and protein powders that are a healthy good smoothie ingredient opportunity. 💚
Pavlova dessert is a delicious meringue based dessert with fruit. You usually see Pavolovas piled high with berries. But a tropical twist to that can be with fruits like pineapple, kiwi, guava, bananas, mango, and cherries to make a rainbow effect as in eat-from-the-rainbow anti-inflammatory healthy.
You can also omit the sugar in your egg-white meringue base. And instead of a traditional meringue base altogether, you can add a grit or oat pie base bottom.
Either way is a way to enjoy the tropics from home, and the healthy benefits of tropical fruits.
Loaded with Vitamin C and fiber, they also have minerals and are high in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory ingredients. Most tropical fruits are also very juicy to quench your thirst and cooling. Instead of reaching for a beverage with calories, eat healthy tropical fruits.
What’s fun about a Pavlova is you can make it your own swirls and patterns.
This is a lighter pie version with tropical fruits that are high in Vitamin C..
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets
Equipment
pie baking pan
Ingredients
Tropical fruits, chopped
Meringue (or grit pie bottom)
115 ouncecream of coconut can
Instructions
For Pavolva, whip egg whites to make meringue base. Add to a pan that will be your presenting dish/pan or use a Silpat for easy transfer. Alternatively you can make a grits pie base that's quicker to bake, with grits, egg, and coconut oil that complements tropical fruit flavors. Alternatively, you can grind oats and bake them to use as the base.
Bake in 200°F oven until it feels solid and formed (like packed snow).
Decorate with fruit (dragonfruit, pineapple, passion fruit, and guava). If you want to use less fruit sugar or for a breakfast Pavlova, you can alternatively add berries and green bananas.
High fiber food helps you have a naturally gut healthy life. And if you’re fiber-maxxing these days, some foods are higher fiber in each food category.
Besides this printable graphic, check out the selected list below of highest fiber foods.
…Which btw, increasing fiber may be catching on as a trend, but it not a new healthy idea. Your GI tract has always loved you and those before you for increasing fiber.
…and it has been on a nutritional label for years, but is still often overlooked.
The dietary fiber line item is under the carbs category, but indigestible, unlike carbs (that are digested).
And the indigestible fiber supports a healthy gut life.
…Where the fiber we eat comes from foods that have outer plant-based fiber, such as wheat and fruit skins.
Wheat bran and prunes are good examples of the XX in fibermaxxing, as super fiber foods.
And basically, there are two kinds of fiber that make up dietary fiber count: soluble and insoluble.
Many plant-based foods have both, but when we think of fiber to help food passage, it’s the insoluble fiber kind that we need more of daily.
Think of insoluble fiber as a growing bigger tumbleweed in the desert.
And in the gut, that could be a wad of cabbage or popcorn moving through your body’s water channel tract.
…Or it could be other daily foods like leafy greens, nuts, lentils, beans, and plant-based foods that also have high fiber counts.
Fiber foods are usually affordable foods year-round at places like Aldi grocery stores… and you can find interesting fresh-off-the-farm grown seasonal foods at local farmers markets, such as different kinds of radishes and leafy greens.
The common mature version of these plants generally have more fiber than say microgreens that are the baby versions, and super healthy for other reasons.
Then there are the cereal grasses with fiber, such as wheat, that can be added in your daily diet, like in a fiber healthy brownie recipe that you can make and even enjoy for breakfast.
…And another breakfast way to get in these fiber foods is from organic fruits in a smoothie.
Adding fruit skins to your blender helps you consume more fiber.
Today women are recommended to get approximately 25-30 grams, and for men, 30-38 grams of fiber.
And these are just a few high fiber food suggestions where you can rack up more gram points:
Smoothies – Fruit and veggies are good sources of fiber, and whether it’s a sweet smoothie or green smoothie, your body fiber benefits. Or a veg-fruit blend of the two like in a green mango smoothie.
Did you know cocoa powder has 7-9 grams of fiber per ounce? That’s double or more fiber than. in a medium apple. Finding an unsweetened and natural cocoa powder (not an alkalized Dutch processed) is healthier.
Green lentils – Peas and lentils are related, but from different plants or parents. They’re like cousins to each other. And you can make mushy peas with higher fiber via green lentils, that substitute green peas (that don’t have as much fiber).
Navy beans – The queen of high fiber beans are navy beans. Navy beans are also called pea beans (they have that in common with chickpea-garbanzo beans that also have both pea-bean in the names).
They may not be as easy for you to source as other beans, but are often found in a 15-bean bag. You can easily make this a healthy meal in a homemade bowl of turmeric soup.
And if you’re having a tough time finding these beans (vs cannellini or Great Northern beans that navy beans are often confused with), check out dry beans at places like Walmart markets that usually have a larger selection at lower prices. And you can’t go wrong with pinto beans either.
But if you’re hesitant about beans altogether, you can avoid the reason why many people sometimes stay away from the bean digestive effects…
Tip: And if that’s your bean experiences after digested, try a bag of dried beans. Soak the beans overnight or longer in a bowl of water. Absorbing the water, the beans will expand and grow in size, maybe as big as a lima bean, so add more than enough water to fully cover. Then low and slow cook the beans until soft.
Try them and note the difference for your body. Either way, it will be a different experience than canned beans.
Psyllium husk – This is one of those supplemental powders that has been around. It’s definitely an alternative, but one that often comes with additives and sugar. You can get enough fiber from your healthy food diet if you try.
…So maybe challenge yourself to get enough fiber from foods? Because then you’re eating more plant-based foods that also offer vitamins, minerals, and anti-inflammatory body benefits. Just a thought.
Artichoke – This a prebiotic food that feeds good bacteria (good for a gut baby). The common globe artichokes look more like pretty green roses with the concentric petals.
You’ve probably also heard of Jerusalem artichokes… that are tubers (like water chestnuts or potatoes) and not related to those artichokes. They actually look more like potatoes on the outside. But that’s okay if you get confused between the two, as both are fiber healthy.
Both artichoke types have prebiotic fiber (inulin) that feeds good bacteria, found also in asparagus, chicory root, garlic, bananas, alliums (e.g. onions and garlic).
Passion fruit – The passion fruit is also passionate in fiber with about 25 grams per cup compared to 8 grams in berries like raspberries, that are also considered high fiber fruits.
But passion fruit is great for people who don’t love sweet fruits, but if you do, you can pair with other tropical fruits in a smoothie, like sweet dragon fruit, pineapple, or kiwi that are easier to source. Or add in to coconut.
Avocados – You can find avocados on so many healthy lists, but as for fiber, it’s also a winner! It’s higher than many fruits. So add the superfruit in your smoothies, dips, and smears. You can try with coffee that’s a laxative, in a 2xx morning avocado coffee smoothie. 🥑 And then grow a little avocado plant from seed.
Prunes – These are dried plums that are good snacks that have balanced soluble and insoluble fiber. Plus you’re eating the skins that are mostly insoluble fiber (reason for daily fiber) and the flesh or pulp is soluble.
And they taste consistent. Because you probably remember the plum tastes from in season vs. off season where they can be sweet or sour.
For prunes, the natural fruit sugar in them act as laxatives. They make great home snacks (and not so much take-a-long-snacks). And you can try adding to your cooking, like pairing with meat if you eat.
Wheat bran – A wheat kernel has bran (outer layer), germ (inner seed) and endosperm (middle layer). Whole wheat flour has all, but the bran has the higher insoluble fiber, like most skins.
Flour is also more processed. But you can easily add wheat bran into your bakes like a whole grain roll or daily biscuit. You can also get this in your fortified cereals if you don’t like to bake.
Barley – Getting both soluble and insoluble fiber, barley has both like prunes.
To prepare, it’s easier than dry rice. It’s closer to quinoa where you can dry toast for a minute (optional), and then cook in water until soft.
It’s a good alternative to rice or oats. It’s a healthy ancient grain like buckwheat and amaranth where you can add a little into your bakes.
Matcha banana bread is an easy bread you can make for brunch. And this one is a mixed batter (and not a proofing bread dough) before it’s in the oven, so you’ll save hours! Think of it like a quick pancake batter.
…And you can make this simple, where all you need is a pancake mix and a banana.
…Oh, and then add a little milk and/or yogurt for moistness. You can also make your own easy banana bread mix with flour (gluten and gluten-free), baking powder, and choice of sweetness (such as maple syrup or honey that are good for breakfast and lower sugar than sugar).
You can also get your healthy ingredient adds in like matcha tea in banana bread. Matcha is a healthy anti-inflammatory green tea, good for calming that also supports weight loss. 🍵
…Where less sugar is also going to support those efforts.
I also added in healthy gluten-freebuckwheatflour to the mix, that’s high in protein and fiber… and good in healthier pancakes and a recipe like this.
You can hide the healthy ingredients after you combine the ingredients. But I left a small trail of spring green matcha on the top of the batter, so you can see it’s there. The color will also blend in more after baked. 🌱
Only the banana bread will stand out in the end.
And that’s a good way to hide healthy ingredients for those who are picky eaters!
…But that you’ll feel better about it in there and anyone you’re sharing with!
The best part is: you can make healthier breakfast sweets like this matcha banana bread without compromising any tastes.
