Tension Release For Neck and Shoulders – No Massage Therapist Required!

tension release

You know it well: the tightness, the dull ache, hunched up shoulders, decreased mobility in your neck. I am going to show you an EASY and SIMPLE hands on technique for neck and shoulder tension release that works fast! There is no massage therapist required!

So often, tension takes hold in our neck and shoulders long before we even know it. It’s not until we have pain, stiffness and impaired mobility that we pay attention and try to do something about it. Being aware of what you are doing and where the tension is actually coming from, is one of the first steps in stopping this vicious cycle.

Using this tension release technique will

  • wring out tension
  • increase mobility
  • replenish stiff muscles with oxygen, rich blood
  • make you feel ahhh-mazing in five minutes flat!
Play Video

1-  The first thing to do is to check your neck and shoulders.

You may not even be aware that you have any tension going on in your neck and shoulders. Take your hand and place it on the opposite shoulder. Grab and squeeze the muscles in your neck and shoulders. Do you feel any hard tissue that feels like rocks? Do you feel tenderness in certain areas? If so, you have accumulated stress and tension in these areas.

2-  Self massage

Now that you are AWARE of some tension, let’s get rid of it. Take your hand and squeeze the skin and muscles. Those places that are more tight, hold the squeeze for several seconds. You will feel the tension slowly melt and dissolve. Take your fingers and poke the muscles. Press the fingertips into the tight places. KEEP BREATHING! Do this all around the shoulder area. Behind the head and neck area. You may find some tight and tender places in front of the shoulder and under the collarbone. Explore and massage.

3- Check In

After massaging one side, check in. Look in the mirror to see if one shoulder is lower than the other. If so, you have done a good job. Amazing isn’t it? Massage both sides. You may find one side is more tight than the other. This is very common.

4-  Drink a big glass of water

After any kind of bodywork and massage, it is a good idea drink water. The kidneys could use some water to help flush all the toxins that you just released into the blood stream.

5-  enjoy a relaxed neck, and stress free shoulders!

Now wasn’t that simple.

Take note of how you are feeling and do tension release technique regularly!

If you are ready to let go of chronic neck and shoulder tension, and increase mobility, than this stuff is for YOU!

Enjoy!

Stay posted of my latest mini classes and youtube tutorials by subscribing to my youtube channel here

jan3

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Instant Pot Three Bean Chili

chili

If you want something WARM, SOOTHING, TASTY, and QUICK TO MAKE for dinner, this three bean chili is the bomb! I revamped one of my chili recipes so it can make it up in the Instant pot. If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you seriously should consider it. Worth every penny! I have two now and use them simultaneously all the time.

chili

This chili recipe can be made without the Instant Pot, just takes a little more effort. With the Instant Pot, you don’t have to babysit it. Just throw all the ingredients in and while you wait you can make up a batch of yummy cornbread. You can have a healthy dinner made up in the time it would take you to run to a fast-food joint.

Back to the three-bean chili.

This is how easy it is

Ingredients (6 servings)

  • 1 lb. ground beef or ground turkey (optional to add meat or not)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 14.5 oz. can tomatoes with juice
  • 1 6 oz. can tomato paste (optional)
  • 1 can chopped roasted green chilies, optional
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 1 tsp. coriander
  • 1 tsp. cumin
  • 1/2 tsp. paprika
  • 1 1/4 tsp. chili powder
  • 3 cans beans, drained (pinto, kidney, black, navy, etc)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1- Turn on the Instant Pot and choose SAUTE

2- Brown the ground meat and remove any unwanted grease.

3- Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and give it a little stir.

4- Place the lid on the Instant Pot

5- Flip the pressure valve to seal

6- Reset the Instant Pot for “SOUP”

7- Adjust the time for 15 minutes.

8- When the beeper goes off, use the QUICK RELEASE METHOD

9- When the pressure has come down, remove the lid, and enjoy!

This Chili freezes really well. You can double the batch and freeze some for another QUICK MEAL!

You can also make this up in a stockpot if you don’t have an Instant Pot. It is pretty much the same instructions. Simmer over medium-low heat covered for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Instant Pot Three Bean Chili

chili

If you want something WARM, SOOTHING, TASTY, and QUICK TO MAKE for dinner, this three bean chili is the bomb! I revamped one of my chili recipes so it can make it up in the Instant pot.

  • Prep Time10 min
  • Cook Time15 min
  • Total Time25 min
  • Yield6 Servings

Ingredients

    • 1 lb. ground beef or ground turkey (optional to add meat or not)
    • 4 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1 medium onion, chopped
    • 1 14.5 oz. can tomatoes with juice
    • 1 6 oz. can tomato paste (optional)
    • 1 can chopped roasted green chilies, optional
    • 1 cup beef broth
    • 1 tsp. coriander
    • 1 tsp. cumin
    • 1/2 tsp. paprika
    • 1 1/4 tsp. chili powder
    • 3 cans beans, drained (pinto, kidney, black, navy, etc)
    • Salt and pepper to taste

INSTUCTIONS

1

Turn on the Instant Pot and choose SAUTE

 
2

Brown the ground meat and remove any unwanted grease.

3

Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and give it a little stir.

4

Place the lid on the Instant Pot

5

Flip the pressure valve to seal

6

Reset the Instant Pot for “SOUP”

7

Adjust the time for 15 minutes.

8

When the beeper goes off, use the QUICK RELEASE METHOD

9

When the pressure has come down, remove the lid, and enjoy!

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Jan Howell

Jan Howell

Whether it’s a new recipe, a fun craft, or some handy tips for your garden and home, I hope to empower and inspire you with skills that you can use to create joy, improved health, and to do it in a simple way.

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How To Fold and Organize Socks Efficiently

If you find it challenging to find a pair of matching socks from your drawer, I am going to show you how simple it is to fold and organize your socks quickly and efficiently.

In what state is your sock drawer?

They say, “the way you do something, is the way you do everything”. So, what is that saying about you if your sock drawer is a heap of unmatched socks? Most likely you will find this same thing showing up in other areas of your life. Something to think about! If you want to change your life, start with your sock drawer. I know this sounds crazy, but seriously, if you do something as simple as organize your sock drawer, it will change the way you do everything!

Besides feeling a sense of ahhhhh every time you open your organized sock drawer, by organizing your socks you will:

  • save time by not having to search for a matching pair of socks
  • save money (because you will know how many socks you have instead of having a stray sock floating around somewhere in the house and having to buy new ones)
  • you will have a sense of clarity and order

This technique I am going to show you below is simple, quick, and does NOT take a lot of time.

here is how it is done

  1. Find the match to your sock and place them on top of each other, matching heels and toes.
  2. Fold toes up 1/3 of the way, then fold the cuff over that.
    For longer socks, fold in half, then in half again.
  3. Stack and put them in your drawer right away.

The key is to find some kind of little box to keep the socks contained. There are a lot of options. It doesn’t have to be fancy or cost a lot of money! The option above is very affordable and is available here.

There is a plastic type that folds up like the one above. You can get them here.

Or Ikea sells a set of drawer boxes like this one. (I love Ikea)!

Or you can just use a simple shoe box without the lid. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just something to keep the socks contained and in a smaller area.

Fold, stack and store!

Simple as that.

Give it a whirl and see how your life changes.

By the way, how is your utensil drawer?  That is next ha, ha.

Enjoy!

jan3

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Jan Howell

Jan Howell

Whether it’s a new recipe, a fun craft, or some handy tips for your garden and home, I hope to empower and inspire you with skills that you can use to create joy, improved health, and to do it in a simple way.

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Yummy Gluten Free Blueberry Crisp

The other day I was going through all my magazine clippings of recipes I want to try. (Do you have a stack of recipes you keep but never try)? Well in this stack I found A KEEPER!!!!  This Gluten-Free Blueberry Crisp is the best!

I am not even sure where I got this recipe, but I made it last night and it was amazing. It being “gluten-free” and sweetened with only pure maple syrup, I was a little skeptical. My daughter and I both said we prefer this over pie, so yummy!

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30-35 minutes 

What I love about this recipe, is that it calls for all the good ingredients that I use all the time and stay stocked up on coconut oil, almond flour, pure maple syrup, and nuts.
 

Ingredients (6 servings)

  • 2 pints of fresh blueberries
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 cup slivered almonds
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • Pinch of nutmeg

I really like this brand of almond flour. You can find it at Costco or Amazon.

Instructions

1- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

2- In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with the lemon juice.

3- Divide between six ramekin dishes

4-Leave the remaining juice in the bowl.

5-Using the same bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients until combined.

6-Crumble the mixture over the blueberries.

7-Bake for 30-35 minutes, until bubbly and golden brown.

8-Let cool slightly before serving.

9-Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt, whipped cream or ice cream.

Mix this up with some homemade Greek yogurt and you have a healthy breakfast!

Enjoy!

 

jan3

Yummy Gluten Free Blueberry Crisp

blueberry crisp
This blueberry crisp recipe is a yummy gluten-free dessert made with healthy ingredients and sweetened with pure maple syrup. 
  • Prep Time10 min
  • Cook Time30 min
  • Total Time40 min
  • Yield6 servings
  • Course
    • Dessert

INGREDIENTS

    • 2 pints fresh blueberries
    • Juice of one lemon
    • 1 cup almond flour
    • 1/2 cup slivered almonds
    • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
    • 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/8 teaspoon salt
    • Pinch of nutmeg
     

INSTUCTIONS

1

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

 
2

In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with the lemon juice.

3

Divide between six ramekin dishes.

Leave the remaining juice in the bowl.

 

4

Using the same bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients until combined.

5

 

Crumble the mixture over the blueberries.

6

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until bubbly and golden brown.

7

Let cool slightly before serving.

8

Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt, whipped cream or ice cream.

  • Amount per serving
  • Calories0
  • % Daily Value*Standard DV
  • Total Fat7 g78 g8.97%
  • Saturated Fat1 g20 g5%
  • Cholesterol2 mg300 mg0.67%
  • Sodium80 mg2300 mg3.48%
  • Protein1 g50 g2%
  • Unsaturated Fat 6

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Jan Howell

Jan Howell

Whether it’s a new recipe, a fun craft, or some handy tips for your garden and home, I hope to empower and inspire you with skills that you can use to create joy, improved health, and to do it in a simple way.

Read More

Hanging Up Your Laundry – Streamlined

Do you ever get overwhelmed with the laundry? I am going to show you a slick trick my daughter taught me to streamline hanging up laundry. Allie is a master in efficiency and organization (She gets it from her father who does this very thing for work). Whatever she is doing, she finds a quicker, more efficient way to do it. She even made hanging up a load of laundered shirts a snap!

Here is what you do:

Gather a bunch of hangers and set them on a table or wherever you fold your laundry. (I love this foldout table that I got at Ikea).

Take the shirts out of the dryer and stack them on top of each other, front facing out.

Place a hanger in each shirt. (Make sure all the hangers are facing the same direction).

After the hanger is inserted, fold it forward and go to the next shirt until all the shirts have a hanger in them.

Ta-dah!

Below is a video demo of how slick this really is.

Play Video

Here are a few other laundry tips:

Remove empty hangers from your closet regularly

Isn’t it frustrating when you go to hang things up and there are NO HANGERS? When my kids were younger, “gather hangers” was one of the tasks on their chore list. It worked out nicely. So if you have little ones around, this is a great little job for them. It is also nice not to have all the empty hangers taking up space in your closet.

Avoid placing laundry on the bed to fold later

I know it is tempting to throw a load of laundry on your bed with the intention of folding it right away, but do you? It is very easy to put it off and forget about it until you go to crawl in bed. Then what happens? Yep, it gets thrown back into the laundry basket or maybe even on the floor. Now, you have to throw it back into the dryer to get the wrinkles out, and you are starting all over again. What a waist of time. So, just avoid it in he first place, unless you are certain that you are going to do it right then.

Use closet organizing tags to keep clothing in order

I show how to make these simple closet organizing tags here in this post.

Get rid of clothes you don’t wear!

I am always about getting rid of clutter. Not that I am queen of doing this, but I try. Keeping clothes in your closet that you don’t wear, just takes up space, drains your energy and could be used by someone else. Something to consider.

There you have it, a few tips on how to hang up and store your laundry.

Stay tuned for some other fun tips on getting organized and clutter free. It’s that time of year when I want to just gut the house and get rid of things.

Please share if you have any questions or great ideas!

Remember, doing laundry is a joy!

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Broccoli – How To Steam In The Instant Pot

2020 calendars

Steamed broccoli and cauliflower have never been easier to make than in my Instant Pot. What is so great about this pressure cooker? Well, the biggest thing is that you don’t overcook steamed vegetables. Eating soggy broccoli was pretty common in my kitchen before this bad boy entered my world.

I love that you can throw in your veggies, set the timer and continue with other things. The beeper will sound when it is done and you can have perfectly steamed broccoli and cauliflower in less than 10 minutes total cooking time. There is no excuse for not having time to fix a delicious, healthy side dish for any meal.

When cooking vegetables, fresh or frozen, it’s recommended to use steaming or quick pressure cooking to preserve vitamins and minerals to the maximum. So, what are the benefits of this beautiful green vegetable anyway?  Here are a few reasons why we should eat broccoli.

9 Health Benefits of eating broccoli

1. Cancer Prevention

Broccoli contains glucoraphanin, which the body processes into the anti-cancer compound sulforaphane. This compound rids the body of H. pylori, a bacterium found to highly increase the risk of gastric cancer. Broccoli contains indole-3-carbinol, a powerful antioxidant compound and anti-carcinogen found to not only hinder the growth of breast, cervical and prostate cancer, but also boosts liver function.

Broccoli shares these cancer fighting, immune boosting properties with other cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and cabbage.

2. Cholesterol Reduction

Like many whole foods, broccoli is packed with soluble fiber that draws cholesterol out of your body.

3. Reducing Allergy Reaction and Inflammation

Broccoli is a particularly rich source of kaempferol and isothiocyanates, both anti-inflammatory phyto nutrients. Research has shown the ability of kaempferol to lessen the impact of allergy-related substances on our body. Broccoli even has significant amounts of omega 3 fatty acids, which are well known as an anti-inflammatory.

4. Powerful Antioxidant

Of all the cruciferous vegetables, broccoli stands out as the most concentrated source of vitamin C, plus the flavonoids necessary for vitamin C to recycle effectively. Also concentrated in broccoli are the carotenoids lutein, zeaxanthin and beta-carotene, other powerful antioxidants.

5. Bone Health

It contains high levels of both calcium and vitamin K, both of which are important for bone health and prevention of osteoporosis.

6. Heart Health

The anti-inflammatory properties of sulforaphane, one of the isothiocyanates (ITCs) in broccoli, may be able to prevent (or even reverse) some of the damage to blood vessel linings that can be caused by inflammation due to chronic blood sugar problems.

7. Detoxification

Glucoraphanin, gluconasturtiin and glucobrassicin are special phytonutrients that support all steps in the body’s detox process, including activation, neutralization and elimination of unwanted contaminants.  It also contains isothiocyanates which help control the detox process at a genetic level.

8. Diet Aid

It is high in fiber, which aids in digestion, prevents constipation, maintains low blood sugar, and curbs overeating. A cup of broccoli has as much protein as a cup of rice or corn with half the calories.

9. Alkalizes Your Body

Like many vegetables, broccoli helps keep your whole body less acidic, which has a host of health benefits.

Are you ready to start implementing this power food into your menu, if you haven’t already?

video tutorial

How to steam broccoli and or cauliflower using the Instant Pot:

 

1- Place a steam basket into the Instant Pot Pan

I recommend using a stainless steel basket or a silicone basket.

These silicone baskets from AVOKADO, are my new Instant Pot accessory love!

They hold a ton of food, are easy to clean, and make it really easy to remove from the pot. (No hat pad or mitts needed).

2- Cut up veggies into big florets and place into pan

I like to use the organic FROZEN broccoli from Costco. It comes already cleaned, cut and frozen.

3-Add 1  cup water

******If you use fresh veggies, the time needs to be adjusted way down, to 0! 

4- Apply lid and switch the valve to pressure

 

5- Press the MANUAL button and adjust the time to 3-4 minutes.

****FROZEN set to 3-4 minutes

*****UNFROZEN 0-1 minutes

Depending on how you like the broccoli, you may need to adjust the time. I like mine a little more tender, so I opt for the 4 minutes. If you want it a little crisp, 2-3 minutes is good.

Total cook time will be around 8-10 minutes which includes time to build up pressure.

This time will give you veggies that are tender, but still bright in color. After your first batch you will know if you need to adjust time a little to steam to your liking.

6-After beeper sounds, use the QUICK RELEASE METHOD

Flip the pressure switch and keep hands and face away from the hot steam.

Once the pressure has come down, the pressure valve will drop and you can open the lid

 

6-After beeper sounds, use the QUICK RELEASE METHOD

Flip the pressure switch and keep hands and face away from the hot steam.

Once the pressure has come down, the pressure valve will drop and you can open the lid

 

One more tip! I know this will sound crazy, but I like to save the water from the pan to drink later. Cooled in the fridge it is quite tasty and chuck FULL OF NUTRIENTS.

 

There you have it, a quick healthy side dish to any meal.

 

Play Video

Enjoy!

 

Broccoli – How To Steam In The Instant Pot

2020 calendars

Steam broccoli to perfection in only minutes using the Instant Pot.

  • Prep Time1 min
  • Cook Time4 min
  • Total Time5 min

For the burger

  • Raw or Frozen Broccoli 

Preparing the spices

1

Place a steam basket into the Instant Pot Pan

I recommend using a stainless steel basket or a silicone basket.

2

Cut up veggies into big florets and place into pan

3

Add 1  cup water

******If you use fresh veggies, the time needs to be adjusted way down, to 0! 

4

Apply lid and switch the valve to pressure

5

Press the MANUAL button and adjust the time to 3-4 minutes.

****FROZEN set to 3-4 minutes

*****UNFROZEN 0-1 minutes

Depending on how you like the broccoli, you may need to adjust the time. I like mine a little more tender, so I opt for the 4 minutes. If you want it a little crisp, 2-3 minutes is good.

Total cook time will be around 8-10 minutes which includes time to build up pressure.

This time will give you veggies that are tender, but still bright in color. After your first batch you will know if you need to adjust time a little to steam to your liking.

6

After beeper sounds, use the QUICK RELEASE METHOD

Flip the pressure switch and keep hands and face away from the hot steam.

Once the pressure has come down, the pressure valve will drop and you can open the lid

This is an extra note from author. This can be any tip, suggestion or fact related to the recipe.
  • Amount per serving
  • Calories0
  • % Daily Value*

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