Do you ever have one of those days where you or your family are just not feeling it? Maybe you’re slugged down on the couch, but you remember you have to put dinner on the table. What is the first thing that comes to your mind? Ordering pizza.

It’s fast, it’s delicious, and you don’t have to work for it! That’s one way out of the seemingly hard task of preparing a meal. However, you could easily put together a much healthier pizza of your own and save yourself the money. It’s a much better alternative, and everyone should at least give it a try.

I remember my days of ordering Pizza Hut, Domino’s, or Papa John’s. Why should you have to pay upwards of $7 to $12 for a single pizza, just to get charged 50 cents or more to add a single topping? The great thing about making your own pizza, like I do, is that you can make as many pizzas as you want, and add olives, jalapeños, and any other toppings to your heart’s desire.

I’ll be honest, making pizza does require some time and effort. It’s not just a simple phone call anymore — it takes patience and an insane amount of cheese. But trust me, it’s definitely worth it.

Like anything else in life, making homemade pizza has its ups and downs.

Pros

• Money: Save yourself some dough and make a pizza from scratch. Unlimited toppings, fresh flavors, and all the cheese you want. Why not?
• Creativity: Making a pizza is tons of fun. Once you make your dough and let it rise, your creativity does the rest. You could roll it out anyway you like, shape it, and add whatever you have in your cupboard. It’s yours to be creative with.
• Sanitation: I don’t know about you, but I’m always questioning if my food is clean or not. In many fast food chains, employees often prepare food in non-hygienic, tight workplaces. Just imagine: someone could have made that pizza of yours right after coming out of the bathroom… and without washing his/her hands. If you’re making homemade pizza, you have the comfort of knowing where it came from and where it’s been.

Cons

• Experience: Let’s be honest with ourselves, some people just were not meant to be put in the kitchen. Some people I know have a hard time making anything other than a bowl of cereal in the morning, and that’s okay. If you’re not handy in the kitchen, it might be best to just call it quits and order a pizza rather than waste time making one and end up ruining it.
• Dough: How you work and handle your pizza dough can either make or break your pizza. Working with pizza dough can be tough, and trust me, I didn’t get it right my first time either. Pizza dough tends to get sticky pretty fast, so if you’re not working fast enough, your dough can stick to your counter and make a mess in no time.

Despite the disadvantages, I would still suggest that you make your own pizza. Even if you’re no Gordon Ramsay, you can still pull off a pretty great pizza just by following the recipe instructions.

Here’s one pizza crust recipe I use that’s never let me down. Give it a shot, you’ll be surprised by what you can do all by yourself!

• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 1/3 cups lukewarm water
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons honey

In a measuring cup, add 1 1/3 cup lukewarm water, yeast and sugar. Set aside for 5 minutes or until foamy. You see, yeast is a living organism, so the warm water wakes up the yeast, and the sugar activates it. Yeast feeds on sugar. That’s why you have to let the mixture sit until it’s foamy — that’s a sign the yeast is ready.

In a stand mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook attachment, add the yeast mixture, flour, salt, and olive oil. Set the mixer on medium speed (about four on most mixers) and let mix for one minute. Once a dough ball begins forming, drizzle in the honey. Turn the mixer on low and let the dough knead for five to 10 minutes or until it doesn’t stick and is smooth. Remember, the longer the dough kneads, the more gluten develops.

Next, lightly brush the inside of two bowls with olive oil. Divide the dough into two equal parts, place one in each of the bowls, cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm environment for two hours. Once your dough has risen, it’s ready to be rolled out and used. Roll each ball into a 12-by-12 pizza, and cover with the sauce of your choice. Sprinkle some mozzarella, add your favorite toppings, and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees or until the crust is golden and crisp.

Summary:

For a fresh and fun experience, try making your own pizza.

Make sure to prepare ahead of time if you want the pizza done by dinner. If you want to have dinner by 7:00 p.m., make the dough at around 4:00 p.m. and let it sit until 6:20, then begin to roll it out and you should be done by 7:00. Always get started preparing your dough two to three hours before you plan to eat.

Although you can go through all that work and freshen up your pizza making skills, you can still order pizza every now and then when time is scarce or to treat yourself. Even I do. Let’s face it, we won’t always have that much time on our hands. But when we do, it’s worth it.