Summary

Jerry and Julie Marie Christensen shared personal updates, including celebrating five years since Julie first visited St. George and her commitment to a “fitness first” routine, along with their nearly eight-year adherence to a one meal a day (OMAD) eating habit. Vicky reported that her husband was hospitalized due to an ulcer caused by low-dose aspirin, prompting Julie Marie to advise on aspirin’s negative effects on gut microbes, especially with a low-fat diet. Presentation Lesson #367 detailed the preparation of “Busy Day Chili” using dried beans in an Instant Pot, emphasizing cost and time savings, specific spices, water amounts, and the “broiled trinity” technique for vegetables, while also discussing the influence of food exposure on the microbiome and childhood nutrition.

Details

• Personal Updates and Daily Routines Julie Marie shared personal updates, including celebrating five years since she first visited St. George, and her current commitment to a “fitness first” routine, which is on its seventh day. She also mentioned her one-meal-a-day (OMAD) eating habit, which she has maintained for nearly eight years for health benefits. Faith noted that it was a rainy and cold day where she was located.
• Family Health and Dietary Challenges Vicky shared that her husband was hospitalized due to an ulcer caused by low-dose aspirin, which he was taking for a past eye stroke. Julie Marie advised that aspirin negatively affects gut microbes, especially when following a low-fat diet, which naturally thins the blood. Vicky also mentioned that her husband, while eating her cooked Protective Diet meals, also consumes other foods and is not fully committed to the diet.
• Azure Standard and Produce Discussion Jerry Christensen and Julie Marie discussed their recent Azure Standard order, which included a case of cabbage and two cases of pears. Jerry also mentioned that the cart for next month’s order closes around November 13th. Jennie noted that her local Costco was lacking in produce, but Julie Marie recommended the organic golden kiwi, which she and Jerry enjoy whole, mentioning that she initially tried eating kiwi whole thanks to Jerry’s influence.
• Digestive Health and Fiber Consumption Julie Marie explained that a low-fat diet helps gut microbes digest plant fibers more effectively. She advised easing into high-fiber foods like beans in small portions to avoid overwhelming the digestive system, likening beans to a condiment rather than the main dish. Jennie inquired about the frequency of bean consumption, to which Julie Marie clarified that eating beans more often in smaller, diverse portions helps the body build the necessary microbes to digest fiber, reducing gas.
• Chili Preparation: Beans and Spices Lesson #367 discussed preparing “Busy Day Chili” using dried beans in an Instant Pot, highlighting its cost and time-saving benefits. Julie Marie advised against soaking the beans and suggested using a mix of different bean varieties for varied color and flavor, specifically recommending kidney beans as a significant component. The presentation detailed the spices used, emphasizing that these spices contribute to the chili’s flavor and warmth without being overly spicy.
• Chili Preparation: Water and Cooking Tips Lesson #367 recommended using 7 1/2 cups of water for the chili recipe. They suggested putting the beans in first before adding spices, to avoid mismeasuring or contaminating them if interrupted during preparation. She also shared a “pro tip” for busy individuals: scheduling the Instant Pot with a delay start or using the “keep warm” setting after cooking to ensure the beans soften further and to allow the aroma to fill the home, enhancing meal anticipation.
• Chili Preparation: Broiled Trinity and Toppings Lesson #367 introduced the “broiled trinity” technique for onions, bell peppers, and frozen corn, which involves broiling them for about 10 minutes to develop rich, browned flavors for the chili. Julie Marie mentioned using a garden pepper as an example of a bell pepper for the trinity. For toppings, she suggested diced tomatoes, onions (red, white, or yellow), and cilantro, and noted that personal preference for cilantro can change with exposure, implying a change in microbial population.
• Microbiome and Food Preferences Lesson #367 discussed how exposure to certain foods during gestation and breastfeeding can influence a child’s preference for those flavors, attributing this to the development of the microbiome. Julie Marie explained that this principle also applies to adults, suggesting that repeated exposure to foods like cilantro can change taste perceptions.
• Childhood Nutrition and Exposure Therapy Lesson #367 discussed the importance of exposure therapy in preventing childhood obesity, recommending that children taste new foods multiple times. Julie Marie shared her personal experience of growing up exposed to diverse flavors, noting the practice of offering a taste to children who might initially dislike a food.
• Chili Preparation and Accompaniments Lesson #367 detailed their preferred method for preparing “Busy Day chili” and suggested various accompaniments. Julie Marie mentioned serving chili with pasta, instant mac and cheese, or cut-up potatoes, and highlighted the Christensen’s preference for instant mac and cheese or chili cheese fries. She also explained how to make a thick, creamy sour cream substitute from strained yogurt, which they use extensively with their chili.
• Ingredient Sourcing and Storage Lesson #367 emphasized the use of organic dried beans to improve food quality and reduce costs, noting that this practice also allows for sodium control. Julie Marie also detailed their method for preserving garden tomatoes by freezing them for use throughout the winter in dishes like roasted salsa, tomato soup, and pasta sauce. She later elaborated on freezing garden tomatoes, sharing that they roast frozen tomatoes for various recipes and store them in multiple freezers.
• Bentonite Clay Uses Faith inquired about the safety of using bentonite clay, specifically for toothpaste, after purchasing a product not explicitly labeled “food grade”. Jerry Christensen clarified that topical use of bentonite clay is safe, even if it’s not food grade, because it is not being ingested. Julie Marie explained that bentonite clay is highly absorbent, making it effective for drawing impurities from the skin in masks and for aiding in detoxification when used internally, though they do not recommend this latter use.
• Meeting Conclusion and Dinner Plans At the end of the meeting, the participants discussed their dinner plans. Julie Marie shared that they would be having chili fries, skipping the cheese, but adding shredded romaine lettuce, hot fries, chili, plenty of yogurt, and jalapenos. Vicky confirmed that the dinner would include leftover chili, jalapenos, and various fresh garden herbs like green onions, chives, and cilantro, with grapes for dessert.

Protective Diet Class #367

Learn to Make Busy Day Chili Using Dried Beans with Vegged-Up Serving Examples

This class shows you how to cook Busy Day Chili from dried beans in the Instant Pot. Julie Marie demonstrates delicious ways to eat beans comfortably on a Protective Diet—without the bloating, overwhelm, or intimidation.

Announcements

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• Tell us what you want to see more of on our YouTube channel.

Vocabulary

Plant Fiber

50/50 Plate

Gut Microbiome

Exposure Therapy

Action Steps to Getting Beans on Your Plate

How to Eat Beans without Discomfort

• Beans are one of the biggest challenges for people starting a Protective Diet—and even for people who have been eating fiber for years. The answer is not to avoid beans. The answer is in how you eat them.
• If you consume too much food at once (even low-fiber food) you overwhelm your digestive microbes. That can lead to bloating and gas. And especially when the microbiome is detoxifying, even healthy fiber can feel like too much at first.
• Ease in. Go heavier on starch energy at first—pasta, rice, potatoes. They give you fuel. Then, as you build digestive microbes that prefer fiber, you can lean more fiber heavy. Don’t go from zero to a giant bowl of beans overnight.
• Eat beans often—in smaller, diverse portions. This will help the body build the necessary microbes to digest fiber, reducing gas. Protective Diet recipes incorporate beans in soups, dressings & dips, and as sprouts, ground flours, and salad toppers.
• Treat beans like they are the meat on your plate. Meat was not your whole plate. It was a part of your plate or a topping, like a condiment on the taco. Jerry and Julie keep it to about a cup or two of beans at a meal. That’s their limit even now.

Why Dry Beans?

• Making Busy Day Chili from dried beans in the Instant Pot has several advantages:
  • It saves money and time
  • It eliminates the hassle of opening cans and gives you control over sodium amounts
  • It cooks beans fully and gently under pressure, preserving nutrients and flavor
• Buy organic dried beans in bulk. Keep them in a food safe storage bucket. Keep some in a refillable container in the kitchen for convenient access. They make a beautiful display that will remind you to incorporate them often, in small portions.
• Start a dry bean + Instant Pot morning routine. Measure, sort, rinse and pressure cook a portion equivalent to one or two cans of beans. Let the pressure naturally release. Then make them into a meal for dinner. Here are several options:

Start with: Pressure-Cooked Dried Beans or Pressure-Cooked Chickpeas
then make them into
Mains	Soups & Stews	Sauces & Dips	Salad Toppers
Instant Pot Dried Beans & Rice	Busy Day Chili	Fiesta Layer Dip	Crispy White Beans
Plant-Based Etouffee	Plant-Based Zuppa Toscana	The Best Hummus	Mock Tuna Salad
	Chickenless Noodle Soup	Protective Hummus	Air Fried Chickpeas
	Cream of Chickn Soup	Guiltless Guacamole	Chopped Nutz
	Spicy Oil-Free Curry	Baba-Ga-Hummus	Caesar Salad Dressing

Build Flavor Without the Slow Cooker

• Build flavor with variety: use a mixture of beans to add various colors and flavors to Busy Day Chili—red or white kidney beans, Great Northern beans, small red beans, pinto beans and black beans (anthocyanins in black beans darken the dish).
• Build flavor with spices. Busy Day Chili includes a variety of spicy and warming spices.
• Build flavor with the Broiled Trinity (onion, bell pepper, corn). Add this when the chili is done. This recipe keeps the veggies vibrant and builds deep flavor through a light charr instead of boiling them all day in the chili until they are lifeless.
• Build flavor with cooking technique: follow the recipe directions to use the delay start and keep warm features on the Instant Pot. Set it up in the morning. Pressure cook. Let it sit on keep warm for that slow-cooked all day taste.
• Build flavor with plated layers: plan to layer your meal to make protective food feel abundant, comforting, and familiar.

Put It All Together

Busy Day Chili Schedule:

Morning

• set up Busy Day Chili in the Instant Pot with the Keep Warm setting on
• Chop, rinse, spin, and chill romaine
• Make fresh Pico de Galo

Evening

• Make freshly cooked starch (tortillas, pasta, potatoes, or rice)
• Make Broiled Trinity
• Make Instant Cheeze Sauce

50/50 Plate Layering Options

	Veg Toppings	Diced onion, diced tomato, chopped cilantro, green onion, chives, “sour cream” (Jerry’s Plant-based Yogurt), Instant Cheeze Sauce, fresh Pico de Galo, additive-free jalapeno nacho slices
	Beans	Busy Day Chili with Broiled Trinity
	Starch	Tortillas	Instant Mac & Cheeze	Short Cut Potatoes	Chili Cheeze Fries	Brown Rice
	Veg Base	Chopped Romaine Lettuce dressed in Jerry’s Plant-based Yogurt

Cooking Tips

• Measure the beans first, so you can remeasure if you lose count or get interrupted, before they are covered in spices.
• Keep track of cups of water measured into the chili by showing the number of cups added on your fingers as you go.
• Strain Jerry’s Organic Plant-based Yogurt through a nut bag or sprouting lid to create thick, creamy sour cream substitute.
• Reheat chili in the Instant Pot using the Steam Reheat Technique, then plate it up in different ways on different days.
• Aromatherapy is where it’s at! Smell your food to build anticipation for your meal.

Encouragement

• Tell me about your childhood family favorites. What can I do to make it easier and more rewarding for you on a Protective Diet?
• This is what keeps us going every single day: quick, easy recipes that are so satisfying. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be.

“Treat beans like they are the meat on your plate.”

Recommended Recipes

Pressure Cooked Pasta	Chili Mac	Plant-based Taco Bell Meat
Chili Salad	Julie’s Beans	Stovetop Red Lentil Chili

Recommended Classes

#260 Day One on a Protective Diet (Free Class)	#302 Lifeline Recipe & Producing Results
#290 High Energy Fuel: Build Muscle & Get Shredded Fast	#265 What’s Your Food Mood
#306 A Deep Pantry Saves Us Money & Time	#313 Master Fasting—A Transitional Approach
#072 PD The PD Practice Check Up (the 50/50 Plate Practice)	#287 Achieving a Pro Mindset
#304 Personal Weight Loss Consultation	#154 Daily Application
#257 How the Gut Microbiota Influences Our Behavior & Controls Our Wellbeing

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Class Description:

This class shows you how to cook Busy Day Chili from dried beans in the Instant Pot. Julie Marie demonstrates delicious ways to eat beans comfortably on a Protective Diet—without the bloating, overwhelm, or intimidation.

Class URL: https://protectivediet.com/courses/protective-diet-education/lessons/lesson-367-learn-to-make-busy-day-chili-using-dried-beans-with-vegged-up-serving-examples/