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Easy Homemade Pizza Recipe (Step-by-Step)

Homemade Pizza is easy and fun to make as homemade pizza dough. Pizza can be a healthy meal… and I have a homemade pizza recipe you can try along with all the detailed steps from scratch.

You can learn techniques from me, a once-upon-a-time  pizza maker who worked at the busiest Domino’s Pizza store franchise in the world 😊

We would crank out over 200 pizzas an hour on any given Friday or Game Day Sunday. This was when the 30 minute guarantee still existed and then became a well-known business case study.

Homemade wheat pizza crust creatively decorated with veggies.
Thin, cracker-like crusts.
Thick crusts like pan-pizza style with the toasty bake.

Which btw you can make your own special pizza masterpiece from start to finish, faster than you can order a pizza and have it delivered.

We called the pizza with everything the Extravanganza that had all the toppings.

So let’s begin…

First, you don’t need a pizza kit. To make homemade pizza, you just need two simple ingredients you already have in your house (or can easily get) to make the dough.

Plus 4 ingredients if you want a bigger crust rise.

Homemade pizza needs no long prep time like pulling out ingredients in advance, like in other baking recipes. So it can be making and baking EASY.

It also has an advantage over breadmaking: you don’t need to wait for hours for the pizza dough to proof.

Making homemade pizza dough needs only a few minutes. You can simply prepare, bake, and enjoy in less than an hour.

If you’re not a planner this can be a winner.

But then again, you’d probably buy store-bought or order delivery. …but then that would be no fun, and you wouldn’t get the healthy, homemade pizza.

So I’ll assume you’ll give it a try at least at some point. You’ll be glad you did! 🎉

Here’s how to make homemade pizza…

Before you do anything, there is one area to plan. You should consider what you’ll add on top of your pizza crust.

If you load with gobs of cheese, then you’ve added fat and dairy (…that isn’t always a bad thing as cheese has vitamins, calcium, other minerals, and satisfies cheesy craving…).

For a healthy recipe, use fresh shredded mozzarella cheese or sliced buffalo mozzarella like on a Margherita pizza. It’s one of the healthier (less greasy) cheeses if your stomach is sensitive and end up sopping up the cheese grease.

Now you’re ready to start and pull out all your homemade pizza dough ingredients.

Instant yeast. I buy the small Red Star packets. The yeast balls look like microscope-tiny, perfectly round khaki brown color beads.

Water. 1 cup warm or room temperature tap water is fine. You may want to experiment as you know what they say about the famously delicious New York pizza crust (the rumor is that it comes from the water).

I’ve used seltzer and filtered water for pizza crust, and I find tap is still the best all-around.

Flour. You have options. Bread flour is the one for Neapolitan-style airy pizza. You don’t need special “00” flour even though you’ll find many recipes with this.

With bread flour you can use for other breads and it’s generally less expensive.

And if you aren’t doing an airy crust, other options are:

You can use a mix of regular or all purpose flour with whole wheat flour (that has a higher bread protein content). Whole wheat flour dough will be less sticky.

And if you use semolina flour for your bench flour, then that will help your dough from sticking to the metal pizza pan you use.

Another reason to choose whole wheat flour is the slightly higher, healthy fiber content. There are also gluten-free options.

In total, use about 2-1/2 flour total, but you will need more when you’re working with the dough.

You get better with practice and experience. You may be able to later eyeball how much you need.

Salt. 2 teaspoon table salt. You can use a little more salt if you use sea salt or if you plan to use fresh mozzarella (or buffalo mozzarella) that doesn’t have as much salt as some other cheeses. Kosher salt or a coarser salt will work well.

Optional: 1 tablespoon EVOO (helps with adding taste and less sticky dough).

Here are the 5 easy homemade pizza steps (broken down in detail):

Step 1: Make the pizza dough.

homemade wood-fired pizza with mushrooms recipe.
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Homemade Pizza Made Fun and Easy (But Looks Like a Pro!)

Course lunch, Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • Flour of choice (bread flour, 00, and/or whole wheat, etc.)
  • instant yeast
  • salt
  • water
  • Optional: cheese, mushrooms, and toppings of choice.

Instructions

  • After proofing dough, add bench flour and shape crust. Tip: use silicone Silpat so the crust doesn't stick to pan.
  • Bake pizze on 350°F/180°C for 15 minutes and then pull out of the oven. Add sauce, cheese, and toppings and bake for another 5 minutes.
  • Remove pizza pan and add pizza to the top oven shelf. Turn on oven "broil" setting for 2-4 minutes maximum, watching the "wood-fired-style toasting" the entire time as burning can happen quickly. You can turn off oven as soon as you see your first brown toasty spots on the crust.

 

Add the yeast to water and let it settle/dissolve for about 5-10 minutes. The mixture will have a milky color and consistency. Set aside.

Separately, add the flour or mixed flours of choice to your mixing bowl (I like half and half whole wheat and regular or all-purpose flour). Add 1 teaspoon salt or you can use 1-½ teaspoon sea salt (if you want to use non-iodized salt as I use). Then add EVOO if you’re using, and the water-yeast mixture.

Dough by hand method: You can make the dough by hand, and if you do it that way, I’d recommend creating a neat flour mountain on a shallow baking pan where the flour won’t stick to everything.

Using semolina flour as a lightly floured surface is a preference.

Then add a dip in the middle of the mountain where you would add the liquids, like you may have seen or done at home making pasta the old-fashioned way (except there are no eggs needed in pizza making).

Dough with machine (recommended): It’s easier to use a mixing machine with the dough hook, like the Kitchen Aid mixer (I have a pink Cadillac color one… Paris Hilton and I have something in common, lol).  

With a machine, in a few quick minutes, the dough should be ready. You’ll know when it’s done when it’s not too dry, and not too wet, and has some good elasticity. Pizza dough is forgiving and is only part of the pizza pizzazz (say that 10 times).

Remember to scrape down the flour from the sides of the mixer. As you’re waiting for the dough to finish mixing, generously flour your pan.

I recommend a mix of coarser semolina flour and regular all-purpose flour for the bench flour.

When it’s ready, pull the dough out of the bowl. You’ll be able to form a small ball with the dough, and you may need to add more regular flour on the outside if it’s too sticky.

Form a dough ball and let it rest on the pan you’ve floured. Leave it sitting or resting at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Note, you don’t even need a plastic wrap or another container you’d have to clean like in bread making!

Step 2: Prep the toppings and the sauce.

While the dough is still resting, I get the topping ingredients ready.

I open the tomato sauce can (many restaurants use San Marzano tomatoes that I recommend), and I add finely chop anchovies with a serrated knife to the sauce as my secret ingredient (that’s not a secret anymore).

It adds salt and another flavor dimension (or you can just add a teaspoon of salt to the sauce if you prefer a saltier-tasting pizza).

Tomato sauce will add sweetness back. You can make your own tomato sauce but since it’s not the star of the dish, canned will work just great.

If you want a chunky style, Marzano tomatoes are plum tomatoes which are the kind commonly used in Italian restaurants. Or else use any tomato sauce or paste.

If you are using fresh cheeses like buffalo mozzarella, slice the cheese into smaller bits.

And if you use basil leaves, wet them a little like with a wet paper towel as they will settle a little better on the pizza. Alternatively, you can use spinach leaves like I use as healthy-alternative inspiration.

For any other wet ingredients like black olives, drain any excess liquid and dry them with a paper towel if you need to (as that would be a damper to your pizza… sorry, I couldn’t resist. Today is a fun day.).

By the time you finish this step, your pizza dough should be ready to work with.

A quick back story: I used to be a pizza maker (or pie maker as they referred to) as a teen before I could drive, and for the busiest Domino’s Pizza… not in the country, but in the world (yes the world! that is becoming smaller every day). 

I stuck around for 4 years until I took on other food-related jobs in college.

So, I still make the dough the way I learned from the modern pros!

We used to crank out 300 or so pizzas in an hour as a team during the busy football nights, and during the 30-minute guarantee years (you probably don’t remember!).

Our heads were down but it was fun energy in the shop![OK back to the business of making your homemade pizza]…

Equipment you need:

-Pizza pan. Any metal pan will work.

-Pizza cutter or pizza wheel (optional)

You don’t need a pizza peel.

Step 3: Flatten the dough into the pizza pan, to get it ready for the oven.

You can turn the oven on to pre-heat or you can wait if it’s your first time or so baking pizza.

Regarding temps, if you want to use 425 degrees (Fahrenheit, just to clarify for my Brit friends), that will give you a crispier bake like a pizza oven would.

If you prefer to cook under 400 degrees because it’s a hot summer day or your fire alarm can go off in apartment living, then you can bake with standard 350 degrees/180°C.

So anything in between 350/180°F and 425/218°C degrees will work. Remember pizza crust is forgiving (and I dare say easy).

OK, so here’s how to make the crust…

Fancy hand way: Take your dominant eating hand and place ontop of your weaker hand. Put your dominant index finger and middle finger below your weaker hand index finger and middle finger (crossing your thumbs). 

Or…

Simple hand way: Place your hands side-by-side, index fingers touching.

Either way, using your fingers, put pressure into the dough as you’re making hand imprints. Use enough pressure to make a dent, but make sure you’re not making holes in the dough, and it’s thick enough to hold the amount of sauce you plan to use.

If you get a hole in your dough, simply start over like you would with Play-doh. Roll the dough back into a ball and then flatten the ball with the palm of your hand (that you can coat with a little more flour as needed).

Push down on the dough and make handprints on every part of the dough.

Keep turning the dough 90 degrees while you move along and your hand is at a 90-degree angle (or at 3 o’clock clockwise or 9 o’clock counter-clockwise if you like clock descriptions).

For a right-handed person, you can turn the dough clockwise (and counterclockwise for a left-handed person).

Then flatten down the middle of the dough with your fingers and palm of your hand to get out all the trapped air bubbles.

Do this once and then flip the dough to the other side (back side), and do the same process. Add more bench flour underneath the dough as needed.

Keep working with it until it’s the right crust size for your pan or toppings.

If you want a super smooth dough crust without your handprints or blemishes, turn the dough with your gentle palms while lightly kneading, smoothing, and stretching the dough with palms (like you’re sanding it down).

I skip that part as a handmade-looking pie to me is part of the fun.

For basic round or irregular shapes, making the dough can take one minute or less with practice.

I know my instructions are descriptively long, but once you get the hang of it, it can be fast and easy!

In the beginning, take your time learning. It can be fun and maybe even a ‘lil therapeutic especially if you have some good music going on!

And, then here’s another important step/option that I recommend:

When you’re satisfied with your pizza dough that will be your topping base and crust, pre-bake the pizza crust first (without toppings) especially if you are using lower baking temps.

This is necessary if you are using lower 350-degree temperatures, but you can skip this step if you want if you use much higher temperatures.

I use the prep-baking crust waiting time to clean off my dough hook, mixing bowl, and other supplies I’m finished with, so I have minimal cleanup later.

After 10 minutes (a magic number for pizza step waiting times), pull the slightly toasted pizza crust out of the oven.

Let it cool for a few minutes, but you don’t have to wait until it’s room temperature again.

Then you can add your sauce with a spoon or ladle and spread evenly starting in the middle and applying less and less pressure towards the crust.

That’s the way we use to do it in the pie shop 😉

Btw, you can make other sauces like pesto, barbecue, or balsamic (that are other personal favorites of mine)! Maybe you too as you get to be a pizza pro?

…But here I’ll keep it super simple with the tomato sauce.

Black olives and red onion thin crust

Step 4: Then lay your toppings on.

The secret for better baking through is to put the quickest to cook items on the bottom. So any thin, flat veggies (like black olives and mushrooms) and flat meats like anchovies, and then add the lumpier foods on the very top layer.

If you use buffalo mozzarella (the white ball kind), treat it like a topping instead of cheese. For shredded cheeses like regular mozzarella cheese, add as the first layer over the sauce.

If you want to use tomatoes that aren’t finely diced (tomato concasse in fancy Italian restaurants), bake them on the side in another pan as they could be too wet and create a mess on your pizza in the oven or prolong your baking time (sundried tomatoes are ok on the pizza).

For any meats, cook them through in advance especially if you’re baking your pizza on 350 degrees.

Now you’re in the home stretch! You just have one more step.

Step 5: Bake your pizza (or cook your pie 😉).

When you’re happy with your fully loaded Picasso-pizza art, put it back in the oven on your lowest or medium rack, and if you’ve pre-baked the dough then you don’t need the pizza pan anymore if you want.

You can just set your pizza right on the baking rack. Sometimes I leave the pan baking just depending on the crust I want. Try it both ways.

And then bake for another 20 minutes to your crispy done liking (all ovens are different and depend on your dough thickness, ingredients, etc.).

Check the crust bottom to determine doneness and if it’s not yet done, but toppings are done or shriveling/drying up, then add a piece of aluminum foil on top and keep baking until the crust is done.

Don’t leave the pizza in there after you’ve turned off the oven, like you could in baking other goods, as this can dry out the toppings and the fiery heat will be gone from the crust which usually takes the longest to bake.

When done, pull out of the oven. Presto! Let it cool and then cut and enjoy.

If you want to add individual flavors, like if you’re feeding a larger group, you can have side parmesan-reggiano cheese, oregano spice, red pepper flakes, garlic, drizzle or olive oil, or caper ingredients (just to name a few ideas)!

…And then you will have 100% impressed your friends with your rock star homemade pizza baking skills ⭐️

The sky’s the limit! And while you’re waiting on your baking oven, you can do a few baking yoga moves, if you’re so inclined.

 

shittake mushrooms homemade pizza.
Shiitake mushrooms and apple cider vinegar pizza crust.

Fresh Orange Juice (No Juicer Needed)

Fresh orange juice is a popular, year-round favorite. In the winter, oranges are in season, so you can find an abundance of oranges.

orange juice

That’s also when most people load up on Vitamin C that they associate with orange juice, and why orange juice grocery shelves can be full or running empty.

And summer is a popular time too as it’s served in vacation towns and resorts.

I share below how you can optimize an entire orange in homemade fresh orange juice squeezed by hand.

If you’re inspired by fresh juices, this is a smart idea to save money, be healthy, and enjoy conveniently at home.

And speaking of enjoyment, last week I had a nice surprise.

I won a gift card to a local smoothie place I’m inspired by. They are my inspiration for tropical smoothies.

One day I saw someone coming out of a yoga studio in my town who was carrying this mermaid blue color bowl that’s the size of a large yogurt container.

I had to find out what this healthy ingredient is!

I learned it comes from an ingredient called blue majik (that’s the magic in the blue bowl). 🥣

The South Block smoothie chain also uses ingredients like camu camu and maca root.

You feel like you’ve been invited to a new array of rainforest superfoods shipped from an exotic locale in the world and infused in your made-to-order bowl or smoothie.

It’s dreamy, no?

OK, I could go on and on excited!…

But, today I also wanted to share how you can optimize oranges in a house-made fresh orange juice.

I’ve become super sensitive to how much sugar I consume and that’s healthy motivation.

And that hopefully inspires you to think healthy food and drinks at least most of the time (as it does for me).

Vatas are attracted to oranges and sugar so this is perfect for satiating sweet cravings.

Next time you think about getting orange juice from the store, consider making your own fresh orange juice from whole oranges where there’s no added sugar.

Fresh Orange Juice

organic navel orange peel for fresh homemade orange juice.
Look for heirloom, organic, or local farmers market produce as in season (free of pesticides, good for us and the environment)

And oranges are one of my favorite fruits as I love the smell of oranges. Here’s why…

They are good for calming anxiety, aromatherapy, and if you’re leaning into the Vata mind-body ways or  wanting to restore any Vata imbalance.

If you can’t get the work life balance or life is stressful, keeping an orange near you to sniff and that’ll help calm you.

And making fresh orange juice will also in its healthy-balancing effects.

And if you feel it in your nervous digestive tract, you can try an orange elixir like this recipe:

organic navel orange peel for ayurveda drinks
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Orange Digestif Juice

Course Drinks
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • 1 orange (pulp, zest, peel)
  • Apple cider vinegar (amount adjustable to liking)
  • 5 Spice blend (Five spice is star anise, cloves, cinnamon, fennel, and black pepper) - (amount adjustable to liking)
  • water (dilute as needed)

Instructions

  • Zest and peel an orange. Keep all the parts. Tip: use navel, Cara Cara, blood, or heirloom oranges. They are good for the calming (and good for parasympathetic nervous system also affecting good digestion).
  • Squeeze the pulp into your orange juice container (or enjoy).
  • Add your zest and peels to the container.
  • Add five-spice blend.
  • Add apple cider vinegar
  • Fill up with water. Shake and refrigerate. Enjoy when you have an upset stomach.

There are so many orange varieties to choose from. I love the Cara Cara sweetheart orange variety (common around Christmas) that can be juicier and sweeter than a California navel orange that’s in season a little earlier.

Plus fresh orange juice makes me think of my second home, staying in nice hotels! Once upon a time I worked in hotel catering management where I got my first taste.

And you may have seen out and about those gigantic commercial machines that crank out fresh orange juice from whole oranges. That would be a fun job for a day!

You may have seen one of these at selective grocery stores if you live in a larger metro area.

Fresh orange juice definitely ruined me for any added sugar orange juice that comes from a carton (like I grew up drinking).

Concentrated is high sugar and harsh on the stomach, and especially along with a morning coffee routine that Americans commonly do. That’s double acidity.

Plus ontop of that, most common foods are usually acidic.

And if that’s your typical morning routine…

👉 You can opt for making your own organic cold brew coffee and  diluting orange juice with water.

So let’s begin and get your fresh orange juice-on!

For equipment, you can use a citrus squeezing tool, which is one of my favorite kitchen tools because it’s bright yellow so I have no choice but to be sunny with the brightening citrus when I use it 😉.

And a zester microplane tool that looks like a zester.

Orange zest from a fresh orange juice.

These are the parts of the orange.

Orange Zest (essence). Before I cut into the orange for orange juice, I go around the orange peel, grating, and capturing all the outside orange zest as essence for zhughing up other sweet morning smoothies, dishes, and garnishes (that’s where my former-catering mind goes and yours can go wild too!).

Orange Pith. Most people throw the spongy, slightly bitter part out, but consider keeping.

This would good in the orange digestif recipe mentioned already.

The orange pith is high in Vit C (as is the juicy pulp) and anti-inflammatory flavonoids. For those reasons alone, it’s worth considering mixing in foods and drinks/smoothies.

Plus leaving no traces of fruit is good for not attracting critters. 😉

Orange Juice and Pulp. Then cut the orange in half (perpendicular to the top or the stem or from left to right).

I know it’s tempting to cut the orange any which way since it’s perfectly round, but cutting the right way lets you cut through each orange segment to maximize juice.

Otherwise you could get stuck on a pillowy-feeling orange segment.

Now you’re ready to squeeze each orange half or use a citrus squeezer tool, and squeeze away the juice into a tall glass.

Let go of all your stress squeezing oranges. Activating calming oranges around you is a relaxing sensory exercise.

Keep repeating until you have the amount of juice you want. Add back pulp as desired if you like high pulp juice.

You can also add some water to dilute some or stretch the juice out for more.

And enjoy!

No-Waste Eco-Friendly Ideas: Save the orange pulp if you prefer high-pulp OJ and add small orange pieces to your drink.

Save the seed to grow a plant. Save the pulp and zest for cooking and baking recipes. Save the pith that has the most nutrients for digestifs and foods. Save the orange sticker as a reminder for getting the Produce LookUp (PLU) item again. 😉

If you like fresh juices, you may want to give Fresh Peach Juice and Mango Juice other sunny yellow inspiring fruity juices a GO.

Breakfast Quinoa Recipes, Homemade Granolas, and Oatmeal Ideas

quinoa recipesLet’s see… does this describe you? You wake up and you want to eat something, but you crave something different than what you had for breakfast yesterday. (That’s a sign you could be a natural Vata). Why not try quinoa recipes for a morning cereal bowl that healthy eaters are raving about?

Btw, it’s OK to feel like you’re in a food rut, seeking food variety and abandoning old ways. That’s actually a healthy natural selection way for your body to get different nutrients and as nutrition information evolves.

Cereal used to be the most popular way to start your day, with a nutrition label full of vitamins and minerals. But then the healthy truth came out and went south when you learned that the source was fortified, (nutrients were added), or enriched (nutrients removed and added back). You see preservatives like BHT on the list of ingredients when they could (and you can) do without.

Our childhood favorites that end in “O” (maybe for “oh-no!) have been called out for having Roundup weedkiller ingredients. Even if it’s small traces, you don’t want your food near pesticides that aren’t natural foods you pick off the land, ya know what I mean? So what’s a girl to do? Like most, we grow up and tweak our diets to match a healthier lifestyle?

Other-once childhood favorites like a tart popped from the toaster are no longer appealing to a healthy adult. The nutrition label can make your eyes pop out of your head with high sugar, low fiber, etc… (you might as well go for a bakery creme-filled donut or chocolate croissant).

For our daily breakfasts, we love our fast favorite cereals and breakfast sweets, but we can love our health more.

Well… when you put it that way…

That’s not a pick-me-up way (and not my usual Enneagram 7 enthusiasm). It actually sounds a bit like wah-wah-wah, but wait… there’s a new wah in Keen-wah (quinoa)… a much better alternative to get excited about. Now, that’s what I’m talking about! And, my favorite easy, quinoa recipes are below.

Another favorite is old-fashioned or slow-cooked oatmeal (whole grain rolled oats) that’s a particularly great morning warm meal for natural Vatas who love to multitask while getting food in the morning body. It’s a good morning bowl because it doesn’t get soggy (it’s already mushy!). And it’s fast to make so it’s no bother if your brain hasn’t caught up with your stomach needs before you’ve had any caffeine. You just need a little hot water.

For slow-rising Kapha energy, warm oatmeal could also be the simple meal that works. While healthy Pittas love to eat and go! and love foods that cool their bodies down. A meal with milk or a dairy alternative is perfect like cereal or a morning healthy goodness smoothie.

Because I mentioned how finding healthy store-bought cereals that you like can be tricky, making your own homemade granola cereal (crunchy) or oatmeal (soft and warm) from whole-grained rolled oats is an easy alternative. It’s tasty and takes very little time.

And you can pre-make healthy granola cereal as an extra time-saver. The only sweet ingredient is a small amount of high quality or local honey (to act as the glue) and optionally add in your favorite dried fruit and nuts, such as almonds and raisins as the healthier choices.

If you want a crunchier granola cereal, then use less honey, and bake in higher oven temperatures for a shorter amount of time, making sure to watch your batch so they don’t burn.

Quick funny story… or at least it was entertaining to me. Long before I worked in hotel catering, I worked in the kitchen of an upscale Italian restaurant where I did food prep. One salad task I had was to prepare and bake pine nuts. I remember they were extremely temperature and time-baking-sensitive. If you didn’t stand there and watch the oven, the pine nuts would go from unbaked to burnt in the blink-of-an-eye. That happened more than once, but I got smart and learned to stay mindful on my task.

[OK…anyway, where was I? 😊]…

Granola is a little more forgiving, but every oven is a little different and depending on where in your oven you set your sheet pan. I take my Silpat off so that I can get crunchier granola (but that’s just preference). In baking, slight altitude and temperature changes outside, affect indoor baking conditions.

Another alternative and my favorite and maybe yours too (or could be yours), is the breakfast quinoa bowl. I promised some quinoa recipes (they’re further below).

When I was growing up, we didn’t know quinoa existed. Before then as far as I can remember, cous cous was the exotic and chic healthy norm alternative to pasta or rice before superfood quinoa came along.

Quinoa is actually mistaken as a grain, and even set in the grain aisle in the grocery store. It’s acually the fruit part of a dried herb (but it looks and cooks like a grain so it’s treated like one).

You know that saying, if it looks and acts like a duck, then it’s a duck.

Anyway, now we’re all fully quinoa aware.

We add healthy grains to our lunch and dinner salads like dry dressing. For breakfast ideas, have you tried or thought about adding breakfast quinoa recipes as the new cereal or oatmeal?

I did and that really spruced up my healthy morning breakfast options. You may also love (or grow to like) the quinoa-forward trend for starting your day right.
Continue reading “Breakfast Quinoa Recipes, Homemade Granolas, and Oatmeal Ideas”

Summer Mediterranean Recipes + Faves from Foodie Restaurants

 

summer mediterranean recipesOff and on with my 20-year hospitality career, I worked behind-the-scenes in catering planning and event execution for Spanish, Italian, and Lebanese restaurants and fine hotels in the Washington, DC area — a top foodie hub. During that time, I picked up many great summer Mediterranean recipes and experimented with my own.

Some of my fondest memories were the large corporate and bridal events where I could get creative with the festive food and elaborate decorations.

From those experiences, I learned to create balanced menus for preferred and customized tastes around the specific seasons and events.

I’ve taste-tested delicious foods, recipes, and dishes from the chefs I worked with who came from around the world.

Some of my favorite summer Mediterranean recipes(great for warm seasons!) that I’ve added my take and twists to, are below:

Continue reading “Summer Mediterranean Recipes + Faves from Foodie Restaurants”

Mental Health Awareness Month For Your Wellness

Trees in May bloom can be a mental health awareness month reminder.

Mental Health Awareness Month is in May. But every day is an opportunity for wellness and mental health awareness for everyday people.

Mental health disorders and anxiety run rampant for people in our lives. In keeping wellness up, we can only do our part and be supportive of others and ensuring our own mental health is in order.

Mental Health Awareness Month is one of the several recognized events throughout the year to keep a reminder going.

And we can all check in on how we’re doing these days.

And others have strayed away from natural growth and becoming better and healthier, into less productive habits that lead to their self-inflicted destructive behavior patterns.

In some cases, this has led to a growing anxiety medication epidemic crisis in America. Too many people are taking them willingly like popping candy without questioning their doctor’s recommendation, and for longer than prescribed.

In college when I didn’t know any better, I took OTC sleeping pills for a semester. When I got off of them, I felt like I was drowning.

That was the wake up call that was needed to get me up and out of looking for a med crutch, when there is a choice to self-medicate and seek inner peace.

We’re all here to evolve and get better, but that’s up to each of us.

And some of the best remedies any of us can apply in Mental Health Awareness Month is wellness practices.

This can be in yoga, meditation, nature walks, and all of the above. Wellness and self-care is the best mind-body answer.

You’re the only one who can choose and do your better life. So for Mental Health Awareness Month (with emphasis on awareness), these are some ideas that you can implement for your healthy wellness lifestyle changes:

Healthy Wellness Lifestyle Changes You Can Make (For Mental Health Awareness Month)

And in your practice, you can get to the root of discovering the healthy you!

Through mind-body connection, maintaining both mental and physical health plays a big role.

When you’re aware that the mind-body directly communicate with each other, you can make positive changes to your life.

Let’s look at mental health (mind) and physical health (body) that we can influence in our wellness.

For physical health changes:

Many recurring or chronic flare-ups don’t have to be a regular or seasonal occurrence when you know the source.

With many interruptive symptoms, you can avoid them with better lifestyle choices and making healthy changes like having less stress in your life or purging past memory baggage.

And removing post-trauma that can stay invisible to you today, and be a part of your everyday.

And general symptoms such as eczema, acne, acid reflux, other GI tract, IBS issues, or sinus infections are preventable.

If you make a simple lifestyle adjustment, you can live more enjoyably, and prevent bothersome symptoms that can otherwise leave you worried, stressed, or moody.

Let me show you how simple these lifestyle changes can be.

Eczema – too much sugar can trigger eczema and food allergies, so finding alternatives. When you don’t eat sugar over time, your cravings can disappear as your tastes change. So slowly removing refined sugar and eating plant-based including fruits is a solution.

Acid reflux – a diet such with highly acidic foods and beverages, and wrong combinations of food eaten together can exacerbate. Using ACV with “the mother” as a food as medicine ingredient in your daily or weekly plan could benefit you. And changing up your meals as most of us eat the same categories of food. Adding more alkaline foods can do you good. For example, if we eat cheese, we tend to eat more than we need. Or we lean into tomato sauces when we could alternate with a butternut squash or other healthy alternative.

Sinus infections – we can’t do anything about the air we breathe in around us, but we can use a neti pot to clean out our nasal passages regularly to prevent sinus infections.

The preventative neti pot me saved me, a person who had experienced back to back sinus infections from a work environment that had mold behind the modern-built walls.

And like a magic potion (there’s no magic!), the prevention prescription for these annoying symptoms can be natural. If we can prevent ailments and nip-them-in-the-bud before they grow, then we don’t have to take medicine that hurts our microbiome.

Some of these “grandmother” and “old world” ways that are Ayurvedic ways, come from generations before us where modern medicine didn’t exist and the people then were able to live longer than they would have because they found natural solutions, like these:

A low sugar and balanced diet, apple cider vinegar, and sinus cleansing (neti pot). Those are pretty easy healthy fixes compared to the physical symptoms.

These changes are all healthy and easy to implement with a desire to change small habits.

We can pick up habits easily and unaware we don’t notice what we’re consuming, doing, or not doing. Being sensitive to our body’s “calling out” through imbalanced body symptoms can wake up our awareness.

For happiness-sadness mood swings:

Taking supplements such as the correct amount of daily Vitamin D3 can change your daily happiness.

Had I known this back when I was a teenager and young adult, my SAD (seasonal affective disorder) mood that came up every February (when naturally Vitamin D sunlight was far less) could have been better or non-existent if I took the right amount of Vit D. Proper vitamin and mineral nutrients are essential where some are daily critical.

And getting enough tryptophan from foods helps with your serotonin “happy hormones” where 90% is produced in your gut.

In our wellness age, we’re learning that a healthy gut is a happy life.

And finally taking the right amount of magnesium that most people don’t usually get enough of absorbed into their system or in their diet, can be helpful to relax a stressed, anxious, or worried mind-body.

For mental health disorders:

Feeling anxious, severe Impostor Syndrome, or prolonged depression can often be naturally altered. For those who are born healthy, we learn behaviors that if kept unaware to us, can turn into mental health disorders that affect daily life.

Getting your heart rate up in exercise, taking a shower, or getting outside to take a walk and appreciating those moments where you can see nature can help you stop wanting what you can’t have right now.

Our brains can be our worst enemies or best friends. You choose. Exercise ignites happy chemicals in your brain.

Your ego may influence you to overindulge or overinflate (e.g. overinflated ego). Be aware. And walk away from those thoughts with a nature walk or doing yoga.

Challenge your thoughts. They don’t always help so tell the ones that are not helpful, to take a hike! And you take your healthy hike outdoors. 😊

Walking away is better as there’s nothing more dangerous than an ego that’s unleashing thoughts affecting your counterproductive behavior. Catch your ego in the act in observation. And do the opposite. Find the loving and productive thoughts.

And one thought change at a time, changes your mind’s perspectives  where you develop your happy, loving, and healthy mind for life.

If you have a situation or trial, find a positive to be gained. There is one if you look hard enough. On the other side of the rainbow, you will gain patience, resilience, self-control, and other traits that you couldn’t have learned otherwise or through other people’s lessons.

If you feel stuck in your current situation, you can try to come up with one step you could take today to change or start exploring a new direction?

In the beginning, a baby step is all it takes. Getting to the shower or your yoga mat even when you don’t feel like it. Do it anyway. And afterwards, you’ll feel much better.

And then you will have trained your mind to “just do it anyway” because it works! And the brain loves when it works, because that’s a sign of accomplishment and success.

Peace and wellness be with you.

A healthy wild cod with Vitamin D with a “3 Sisters” plant-based accompaniment is a good source of Vitamin A, K, protein, and fiber. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and the fat-soluble vitamins will absorb better.

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Butternut Squash Three Sisters Fish Tacos

Pairing a 3 Sisters dish with fish tacos is a healthy dish.
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • Butternut squash
  • Black beans, canned
  • Corn, canned
  • Fish
  • Basil
  • Olive oil

Instructions

  • Cook your butternut squash until soft, then cut in half.
  • Cook until you can scoop out the squash.
  • Add the corn and beans drained from cans.
  • Cook fish and make salsa verde (basil and olive oil) or pesto (basil, olive oil, pine nuts).