National Nachos Day (cooking recipes)

(The Vegan Roadie) Lois Ellen Frank on Indigenous cooking

Chips, Beyond Burger, dairy-free shreds, spices

Nowadays, one can find a sheet-pan dinner recipe for pretty much any flavor that one craves. But before all of these existed, there were nachos.

The original sheet-pan meal can be found on virtually every bar and diner menu across the country. While nachos are now a popular Tex-Mex dish, they're a distinctly Mexican creation. Texas?

• (Yeung Man Cooking) Ultimate Vegan Nachos Recipe

(TYT Sports) Bass Pro Tackle Shop, Odessa, TX

Invented in 1940, nachos were born when Ignacio Anaya, nicknamed "Nacho" (which is short for the Spanish name Ignacio, from the Latin Ignatius), threw together a quick snack of

• corn (chips)
• dairy (cheese)
• chili (jalapeños)
• veggies (tomato, black olives, cilantro, guacamole)
• protein (pinto beans, Beyond Burger crumbles)

to sate the hunger of some guests visiting the restaurant he worked at in Piedras Negras ("Black Rocks"), Mexico.

The dish was an instant smash and quickly took hold in other restaurants before Texas-based businessman Frank Liberto created ballpark nachos in 1976, making them even more popular and readily available in the United States.

Nachos are typically eaten as a side or an appetizer, but with some careful doubling-up of ingredients and a few additions, they can become a hearty lunch or dinner.

The beauty of nachos is that while they have a few classic elements and ingredients, they can also serve as a vehicle for creativity and new flavors -- made fully vegan with full flavor.

So if anyone has ever had the urge to mix up a dish of nachos, here are some tips needed to make this dish even more special. More

• It's also National Men Make Dinner Day - What is it? How to celebrate

99 - Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky with Lois Ellen Frank (Keep On Cookin' Pod)

(The Vegan Roadie) March 11, 2024: Keep On Cookin' Podcast with Dustin Harder. Let's go plant-forward.

Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky

This enriching cookbook celebrates eight important plants Native Americans introduced to the rest of the world: corn, beans, squash, chile, tomato, potato, vanilla, and chocolate/cacao—with more than 100 recipes.

When these eight Native American plants crossed the ocean after 1492, the world’s cuisines were changed forever. In Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky, James Beard Award-winning author and Chef Lois Ellen Frank introduces the splendor and importance of this Native culinary history and pairs it with delicious, modern, plant-based recipes using Native American ingredients.

Native plant based cookbook recipes

Along with Native American culinary advisor Walter Whitewater, Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky shares more than 100 nutritious, plant‑based recipes organized by each of the foundational ingredients in Native American cuisine as well as a necessary discussion of food sovereignty and sustainability.

A delicious, enlightening celebration of Indigenous foods and Southwestern flavors, Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky shares recipes for dishes such as Blue Corn Hotcakes with Prickly Pear Syrup, Three Sisters Stew, and Green Chile Enchilada Lasagna, as well as essential basics like Corn Masa, Red and Green Chile Sauces, and Cacao Spice Rub.

The “Magic 8” ingredients share the page—and plate—to create recipes that will transform our world.

BOOK: amzn.to/49HTAgA. Lois Ellen Frank: bio.site/redmesacuisine. IG: lois_ellen_frank. Dustin Harder: dustinharder.com IG: @thedustinharder David Rossetti: davidrossetti.com. IG: @drossetti

Whites in the Filthy Wild West

(Wild Time)

Forest Bathing: de-stress in nature

Hiking in giant Angeles National Forest/Preserve above Los Angeles at Bridge to Nowhere 

Shinrin Yoku: The Art of Forest Bathing | film

(Matador Network) Stuck swiping Insta every day? The practice of “forest bathing” can change what life is like. Unplug with Mike and Kati on an ancient Japanese trail, learning the creative and health benefits of Shinrin Yoku. #travel #shortfilm #outdoors #forest Shinrin Yoku: The Art of Forest Bathing was a 2020 Webby honoree in video: Travel and Adventure. Feb. 6, 2019. #outdoors #shortfilm #travel

There is a real Bridge to Nowhere in L.A.

"Forest bathing," or shinrin-yoku in its original Japanese, is a mindfulness practice that involves immersing oneself in nature.

The decades-old practice pulls from research that shows that spending time in nature can help lower stress levels (Harvard) and improve focus (U Michigan).

The resonance of the plants, rocks, spirits

Recently, forest bathing is growing in popularity, thanks in part to social media where people are sharing their experiences exploring forests and other green spaces and taking in all that they have to offer.

Over 45,000 videos have been shared on TikTok with the tag #forestbathing. Users say they've seen an improvement to their mental health. More

• Taking inspiration from Forest Bathing to reduce stress in the office - Frezza
• Harnessing the Healing Power of Nature: A Comprehensive Guide to Natural Forest Bathing - Dr. Pradeep Albert

Sydney Sweeney has great bathwater

The world loves me for me.

It isn't just quasi-white supremacist ad campaigns that are adding to bodacious Sydney Sweeney's fame quotient. There is also her bathwater, which has allegedly been added to some expensive Dr. Squatch soap. It's doubtful there is even a molecule of her in any bar, but maybe she looked at the water before it got watered down, spread out, and mixed with fat and lye. Can you imagine anyone liking someone so much that she'd gladly swim in that person's bathwater? If not, ask Gwen about it:

Gwen Stefani's No Doubt "Bathwater"

Sydney Sweeney bathwater bliss (teepublic.com)

• Sydney Sweeney bathwater soap joke tee shirt (womyso.com)
• Halsey begs her fans to see ‘Americana’ even though controversial Sydney Sweeney is in it

Germanic types can be crafty in real herstory.

The rise of robotic sex

Could they, would they, ever build an SS Doll for patriots? Germanic Americans might love it.

We tested 10 female humanoid sexbots/robots and found the best

One month since Bikini (Atoll) Day

Just when the summer is getting started after a long, cold spring in Los Angeles, the LAUSD has started classes up again only a month after Independence Day! What gives? Now there's no more summer and no time for our summer school. It's time for Class 3 on The True Nature of Existence with American Theravada scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi.

NATIONAL BIKINI DAY - July 5, 2025 - National Today

Who would wear floss and handkerchiefs?

Grab some sunscreen [or better yet, alkalinize the body so that it will not be susceptible to burning by acidic reaction to sunlight] — it’s National Bikini Day this July 5th. It’s the perfect opportunity to head to the beach. National Bikini Day celebrates the anniversary of the invention of the two-piece bathing suit. Owing to its risqué design, the bikini was slow to be adopted — but it gradually gained traction when film stars like Ava Gardner and Brigitte Bardot started to wear bikinis on public beaches and in their films. The garment was certainly one of the greatest inventions of all time and, due to the supposed "explosive" effect it had created, it was named after Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific where US warmongers and their suburban drones conducted nuclear testing in 1946. Get ready to celebrate this iconic summer look.

Ban the human body! What do you think this is, the Garden of Eden! God will smite you all!

Staring at the beach in Brazil: Mara's lust

Really? 😲 Sunny Beaches walking tour: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Copacabana 🔥

Tan boy Samadhi Statue, 1870

(Sunny Beaches) Discover the pulsating energy of Leblon Beach with a captivating LIVE 4K walking tour. 🌴🚶‍♂️ Immerse in the warm paradise of Rio de Janeiro (when it's not swamped by Catholic Carnival revelers) as the camera takes a leisurely stroll along the golden sands, soaking up the vibrant atmosphere and basking in the tropical sunshine.

From the rhythmic waves gently caressing the shore to the swaying palm trees casting their shadows, experience the quintessence of coastal beauty from the comfort of the screen.

Corporations hacked our minds (Dr. Lustig)

Catch this opportunity and join in an unforgettable adventure through Rio's most iconic beach destination.

Be captivated by the enchanting beauty of Rio de Janeiro in this must-see video, a breathtaking glimpse into the lives of 2,000 stunning women from a vibrant city. Iconic beaches and bustling streets, soak in the allure and charm of Rio and explore its unique culture, sizzling nightlife, and the undeniable magnetism of its people. This visual feast that will leave viewers yearning for an adventure to Rio.

Are lust and loving-kindness emotions?

(Doug's Dharma) What did the Buddha teach about emotions?

Mara's at the beach, not on the battlefield

Christian holds sign at beach (Keith McManus)

Christians may imagine their Devil at war, killing, harming, maiming, and sending humans to the hells. But it isn't that way in Buddhism. Mara (the Destroyer) is sexy, a gentleman (shapeshifter), Mara Devaputra, more of a deluded Lucifer figure, imagining himself the Ruler of the Sensual Sphere.

In Buddhist cosmology, the universe is divided into three spheres or lokas (worlds), sections of the 31 Planes of Existence. The highest is the Immaterial Sphere (arupa loka), all mind, no form. The middle is the Fine Material Sphere (rupa loka). And the lowest is the Sensual Sphere (kama loka). Where would you, dear reader, imagine the Human World (manussa loka) is located?

Mara at beach would look more like Amatue

We are, of course, smack dab in the middle of the lowest section, the Sensual Sphere, characterized by sense craving manifesting mostly as lust (accompanied by aversion/hate and rooted in delusion).

Mara is not interested in harming anyone. His goal is seduction and keeping everyone within his sphere, reborn in worlds below his plane at the top of the Sense Sphere heavens (superior physical worlds in space). It displeases him greatly if anyone escapes to be reborn in the superior heavens of the Fine Material Sphere.

Get the heck outta here, you wandering ascetic! - Behold, Mara, the Earth says I may stay.

.

It is probably unimaginable to him that there are even worlds beyond that, more subtle and sublime than the highest and most rarefied of the Fine Material planes.

While most of depicted as a "demon" (chief of the yakkhas or ogres), Mara has three very alluring daughters, Craving, Ennui, and Lust (aka Tanha, Arati, and Raga).

Three daughters

The Buddha-to-be was not swayed by deceptive lures.

In some accounts of the wander ascetic Siddhartha's enlightenment, it is said that the "demon" Māra did not send his three daughters to tempt. Instead, they came willingly after Māra's setback in his endeavor to eliminate the Bodhisatta's quest for enlightenment and liberation [16].

Mara's three daughters are identified as Taṇhā ("Craving" or "Thirst"), Arati ("Discontentment," a kind of "Aversion"), and Rāga ("Attachment" or "Passion") [15, 17].

For example, in the Samyutta Nikaya's section on Mara (the Māra Saṃyutta), Mara's three daughters are undressing in front of the Bodhisatta, but they fail to entice him.

They had come to him glittering with beauty

– Taṇhā, Arati, and Rāga –

But the Teacher swept them away then and there

As the wind, a fallen cotton tuft [18].

The three daughters of Māra were inspired by Aratis ("Avarice"), a type of feminine goblin associated with sensual craving [19]. More

• Sunny Beaches, April 16, 2025; Mara image (jendhamuni.com); Dr. Doug Smith (Doug's Dharma, April 28, 2025); Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

LA Fire FREE healing session (2/8)

WHAT HAPPENED?

As above, so below. There are two stories to The Awareness Center, a Kundalini Yoga studio in Pasadena. Entering the room, participants spread out on borrowed yoga mats on the hardwood floor, most of the group was already on stage, waiting for Seven to make an entrance.

The large shamanic drum began to drone, the bowls came alive with their unique vibrations attuned to each of the chakras, and the rainstick began to pour.

Event details

The natural elements are for us, even fire.

Spend an hour with Dr. Ling O'Connor and healers gathering for a sound bath, deep relaxation, reiki massage, and meditation. 

We're offering a FREE sound bath and emotional healing to support Los Angeles residents affected by the recent fires.

• Cause of Eaton Fire? Edison tower sparks

Join Dr. Ling O'Connor, Meditation Guide Seven, musician nurse Devorah Anderson, the Zildjian Mistress Linda Lau Cole, Azalea, Frank, and our very own Urban Shaman Seven for deep relaxation and recentering at The Awareness Center yoga studio in Pasadena.

Experience Tibetan singing bowls, harmonium, shamanic drum, rainstick, temple muyu, gong, and more.

Sound has no power to vibrate or cleanse

Shamans connect us to unseen energies.

This healing session promotes deep relaxation with breath work, emotional release, healing touch, reiki, and physical/spiritual renewal. 

Soothing vibrations restore balance, ease stress and strain, and bring back peace of mind. It's time for the recovery to start by resetting our own nervous systems. First, attend to the body, the mind will follow, and wholeness is in sight.

WHO IS IT FOR? Those most impacted whether emotionally, psychologically, or physically by the Eaton Fire/Los Angeles Fire. (Yeah, this means you). RSVP FREE:

• Disclosure Project: LA FIRE FREE HEALING, sound bath, meditation for all impacted by disaster, Sat, Feb 8, 2025, 4:00 PM | Meetup
• PasaDharma: LA FIRE FREE HEALING, sound bath, meditation for all impacted by disaster, Sat, Feb 8, 2025, 4:00 PM | Meetup
• Nature Center: LA FIRE FREE HEALING, sound bath, meditation for all impacted by disaster, Sat, Feb 8, 2025, 4:00 PM | Meetup
• Email: dancinglunarin@gmail.com

What happened? Free LA Fire healing

Los Angeles' San Gabriel Valley suddenly feels like a faraway paradise beach

.

WHAT HAPPENED?

What is a sound bath for spiritual cleansing?

In PR Russia with its worker cooperatives, the nation hides a glorious imperial past. Leningrad is actually Saint Petersburg, and this is where the czar stored the booty from imperial Eurasian adventures and conquests in the forging of the USSR, a Soviet super-nation, now mostly disassembled. The great Central Asian "stans" where the Buddha grew up are remnants of that time as is Ukraine and places as far away as Mongolia. The palace is now a museum. One needn't travel all the way there to see it, just visit The Langham Huntington Resort Spa in residential Pasadena on Lake Ave., which becomes Oak Knoll as it flows south.

The Langham Huntington, Pasadena

All the Gilded Age gold inlay on the ceiling...anyway, turn left to the Georgian Room, apparently named after the country of Georgia, where 60 yoga mats were arranged in a flower pattern streaming out from a center, where all of our "philosophical instruments" (Tibetan and crystal singing bowls, Zildjian gong, tingsha, giant shamanic drum, muyu wooden temple drum) were set up. Enormous amethyst and clear quartz crystals formed a ring around our sacred space. Eager participants, many of them guests of the hotel, streamed in and found a place, arranging themselves on the ground for maximum comfort, socializing and hugging. Then Seven sounded the drum and brought their attention to the basics for the evening:

• total relaxation
• receptivity with palms facing upward (downward for grounding)
• diaphragmatic breathing
• placing the mind on the breath to remain in the present moment, knowing the human superpower of adverting attention to a safe default (resting home) position at the nose or belly button.

Slowly the other musicians, the Zildjian Mistress Linda Lau Cole and Dr. O'Connor and Linda with the bell and her husband with the rain stick wandered about, enchanting the audience. Some sat to meditate, others taking a supine position to exhale.

The instructions were simple. What? Be. Where? Here. When? Now. How? Breathe and stay with the breath already breathing itself. Be a mindful observer of all that is coming up, without

• fixing
• judging
• evaluating
• clinging to
• rejecting
• fighting
• or even choosing

The work of the shaman is healing.

the content of experience. Be here now. Stay present. Know the safety of presence as Byron Katie and Eckhart Tolle explain it. Be in the now. The room was very safe. People kept streaming in, finding a mat. The sounds became ethereal, echoing, softening hearts and soothing minds.

Dr. O'Connor voiced otherworldly notes, traces of Tibetan chants, a heavenly choir as the Mistress joined in. Seven gave reiki and a laying on of healing hands, transferring prana and whispering a sacred mantra, for those open to it.

Dr. O'Connor began the process of emerging, signaling the supine to slowly move their heads side to side and rouse themselves with tapping. Slowly they sat up, smiling, looking at one another with lovely eyes.

Raising open palms, we intoned three long "OMs" together to send out metta and positive energy to an aching world. Outside, the earlier rain had quelled the fires and begun the cleansing process. Inside, the vibration had been raised, and there was clarity and a wish to connect.

• The next FREE sound bath and healing event was announced (February 8, 2025, at 4:00 pm, at The Awareness Center, Pasadena.

Roses were distributed to everyone as was water provided by the spa. Some people cried tears of joy, free hugs were on offer, and plans were made to reunite as everyone was invited to the next event.

RSVP for the next free session

• Los Angeles Fire FREE healing session (2/8)
• Disclosure Project: LA FIRE FREE HEALING, sound bath, meditation for all impacted by disaster, Sat, Feb 8, 2025, 4:00 PM | Meetup
• PasaDharma: LA FIRE FREE HEALING, sound bath, meditation for all impacted by disaster, Sat, Feb 8, 2025, 4:00 PM | Meetup
• Nature Center: LA FIRE FREE HEALING, sound bath, meditation for all impacted by disaster, Sat, Feb 8, 2025, 4:00 PM | Meetup

Event details

Event flyer: Sound Bath.

Spend an hour or more with Dr. O'Connor and healers gathering for a sound bath, vagus nerve release, relaxation, and meditation.

Dr. O'Connor and Dharma Buddhist Meditation are offering a complimentary sound bath and emotional healing to support Los Angeles residents affected by the recent fires with our very own Seven and Devorah Anderson.

• COMING SOON: We will be at The Awareness Center yoga studio in Pasadena, providing this healing event to the community. See Dharma Buddhist Meditation (Meetup) for upcoming announcement details.

These Santa Ana winds are driving me crazy!

Using Tibetan singing bowls, Indian harmonium, shamanic drums, and a Zildjian gong, this healing session promotes deep relaxation, breath work, emotional release, de-stressing, and physical renewal.

Let the soothing vibrations help begin to restore balance, ease stress and strain, and bring about peace from within during this time of recovery.

WHO MAY ATTEND? This is for any LA resident emotionally, psychologically, or physically affected by the fires. (That means you).

There is good scientific evidence that sound stimulates the vagus nerve and can therefore positively affect our wellbeing.

• FREE meditation, spiritual healing, sound bath
• Georgian Ballroom at Langham Spa Resort Hotel
• 1401 South Oak Knoll Ave., Pasadena, California
• Monday, January 27, 2025, 6:15 pm
• Space is limited to 60. Sign up as guest to register:
• na.spatime.com/tllax/5684945/activity/activity-view/11679295
• Also please RSVP free here or here:
• Disclosure Project: Dharma Buddhist Meditation
• PasaDharma: Dharma Buddhist Meditation
• Nature Center: Dharma Buddhist Meditation
• Dr. O'Connor, Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jen B. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

First day of Spring Equinox Party, LA (3/19)

Seven, Jen, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly; KinshipYoga.com

Hi, I'm Meg Shoemaker, visionary party hostess and innovative yoga instructor (Kinship).

What happened?

The studio was packed to the mats with between one and two hundred in attendance, facing left, where a giant screen projected trippy nature and other images from a projector like an early Pink Floyd concert in a London club. A solo performer modulated knobs on a laptop and synth and effects boxes as she whispered and sang angelically into a mic with echo. Attendees, most of them young women dressed up and sporting tattoos with phones attached to the ends of their limbs, reclined on yoga blankets and cushions in the dark. Meg, in a see-through dress, stood by the entrance, welcoming everyone and making announcements, stepping to the mic to introduce the main attraction of the night -- second only to the socializing, networking, and being seen on the scene -- Amyrion, accompanied by live drums, guitars, and effects pedals. It was a beautiful introduction to the studio with a snack table of appetizers and drinks. The walls are covered with posters of upcoming events usually listed on the website.

Kinship Yoga in Highland Park (about 5 miles from DTLA near the 110 Fwy) is much more than a yoga studio. Yoga instructor Meg is out to make it a venue where all her musician friends can play. This event seeks to capture the magic of the first day of spring, which is what the spring equinox (equal day and night) is today. Happy spring! Or should we say, Happy New Year? That's right, for most of the world today was always New Year's Day, when the world shakes of the dandruff of snowflakes, turns green, comes back to life again.

This is a yoga studio, right? - I think it's a venue.

Gaia is reborn, young again, fresh and full of anticipation with all its sprouts, greens, and flowers. And look at all those pretty pollinators! All we need now to overcome the buzzing, tweeting, swooning, zipping, eating, mating, or growling of hungry cubs are some human sounds to drown them all out. Come mingle and listen to music. It's not a yoga class. It's a party. Meg is putting on a dress. It's casual but a little more dress up than tight leggings and support tops. Or whatevers. Be comfortable. The music will be extra heartful as Amyrion, who leads the twice weekly healing collective, will have a band to accompany him.

• $25. Get tickets in advance
• Spring Equinox Party
• Kinship Studios
• 5612 N. Figueroa Street
• Highland Park, N.E. Los Angeles, 90042
• Paid city parking in rear or free on street

Amyrion (a Ryan Gosling Jr.) performs

The rest of the time, there is plenty of yoga -- hot yoga (ashtanga, flow), cool yoga (hatha), outdoor yoga (weather permitting), group meditation, sleeping yoga (nidra), yoga to live music, sound baths, cold plunges, concerts, energy healings (with a dedicated practitioner's office on site), special events, special one-time classes, and some of the greatest people in all of Los Angeles. Try it: NEW STUDENT SPECIAL

Highland Park is the new center of Hipsterville, right ahead of Silver Lake and Echo Park

Bree and Kathleen's breathing sound bath