I have a huge pot of chili that is too acidic from the tomatoes and
 peppers.  My wife added sugar to lessen its acid, but now it is just sweet and acidic.  Any suggestions?  Is there any unflavored calcium carbonate for chili?

My only suggestion is to add a fair amount of garlic powder. If this  improves it considerably but doesn't fix it completely, add another can  of drained beans and simmer a little.  Even crush or slightly  food-process the beans first.  Let me know.
 
 To avoid this problem, either drain tomatoes first if using fresh, or buy a better brand of tomato such as Contadina or Progresso or another brand of chopped tomatoes you know isn't acidic, and don't overdo the tomato content.   Let me know, please.

I appreciate your suggestions and suspect the pureed beans will help, but  the garlic is suspect. The other suggestion I got was a teaspoon of baking soda per 2 quarts of tomatoes.  I believe that it will work.  I think I'll use your puree idea first then start adding micro amounts of baking soda. till I get what I want.  Thanks a lot for the help.

So what happened?

I pureed a can of chili beans, with the chili sauce in the can, added a heaping teaspoon of baking soda, then mixed the gruel in the big pot of chili that had probably 3+ quarts of tomatoes and deseeded hot peppers.  The final mix is still a little acidic, but considerably less than original, and now easy to eat, and delicious, and one cannot taste the baking soda.  I like to add crumbled soda crackers to this chili.  It increases the empty carb. level, but takes away the final bit of acid.  The big pot probably could have stood some more baking soda, but I wanted to be conservative.  I wonder where I can get some of that calcium that the orange juice manufacturers add to their OJ?  I just may call them....

My husband is a cook.  He uses a carrot to cut down the acid in tomato sauce.  He says it will work for chili also.  He takes an unpeeled (but washed) medium carrot, ties butcher twine around it so you don't have to dig around for it.  Take it out when the sauce is done.  I know other people who do this also. It works.   Give it a try.

Maybe that's why my spaghetti sauce isn't acidic.  Didn't know that.   Bicarbonate can destroy some nutrients, plus isn't good for people on a low salt diet; however a carrot can only add nutrients!

Hello, I have a question about the Watkins pudding/pie filling (coconut) that I recently purchased online (6 cans to be exact).  I have made two coconut pies and both of them have been runny.  I follow the instructions on the container, make the filling, cool a little, (the filling is thick) place in pie crust, place on meringue and brown the meringue.  After I remove the first piece I can watch the filling ooze out and collect in the empty space.  When I try to serve a second piece of pie, the filling just slides off and you have a mess-most of which you either eat as pudding or toss out.  Any ideas of what my problem could be?  I really want to serve coconut pie for Thanksgiving but I do not want to waste my time making a gooey mess.  Thank you. 

I have two suggestions: 

1. Are you chilling the pie well in the refrigerator for several hours before cutting?  This pie thickens as it chills.  If you cut while tepid or just cool, yes it will ooze as it hasn't yet "set".  I've eaten pie "pudding" more than once through impatience for it to cool.

2. It might have something to do with temperature, humidity, altitude or your measuring cup. Try making it with two tablespoons less of liquid; if that doesn't work take out another tablespoon or two. 

I purchased a foil 24-oz. bag of Sunsweet growers prunes.  Are these considered dried prunes?  I have a recipe that calls for dried prunes.  It doesn't say on the bag whether they are dried -- just a "great tasting snack".  Ingredients:  California pitted prunes with potassium sorbate as a preservative.  Can I use them as dried plums or prunes?

This is just a matter of semantics.  Prunes are not "dried prunes"; they are dried plums.  In other words, when you dry plums, the result are prunes which by definition - yes, they are dried.  The prune people, in an effort to make a black, wrinkly thing that people make jokes about into a best-selling treat, are calling them legally "dried plums" and now almost everyone is confused.  See Those Funny Prunes for more info.

I was raised on eggs. We ate eggs for breakfast 5 to 6 times a week. Now that I am older, I watch how many eggs I eat. I would say I eat 2 per week. I have become more of a vegetarian and limit my eggs consummation.

Nothing's wrong with being a vegetarian or near-vegetarian, as long as you make sure you're getting enough protein, iron, B-12 and other important nutrients.  But as far as eggs are concerned I'm not convinced of the high risk.  While many sources still dis eggs as a high source of harmful cholesterol, other research tends to show that moderate egg intake does not raise cholesterol.  I would certainly think that eggs in moderation are a lot healthier than a diet high in red meat and poultry.  However, when I use regular eggs I often add a white or two and take out a yolk or two for the dogs and one of our cats that likes an occasional egg yolk.  This reduces both the cholesterol and the calories considerably.  We also use a considerable amount of Eggland's Best eggs, which are produced by chickens that are fed a special vegetarian diet that increases their good cholesterol and decreases the bad, and are high in Omega-3.  I personally believe that eggs are one of nature's more perfect foods, and eaten in moderation and IN PLACE OF red meat and poultry, and a healthier choice.  And so versatile, too.  When I cook eggs in a dish, I use olive oil.  When we have "fried" or scrambled eggs or a delicate type of omelet, I use a little olive oil with a small dab of unsalted butter, on low heat in a Teflon-coated skillet or omelet pan.  Yum!  

One of our favorite one-dish meals is a huge salad with dark shredded greens, coarsely chopped ripe tomato, anything else I have on hand such as sliced or shredded radish, carrot, cabbage, red bell pepper, sunchokes or cucumber, chunked avocado, raw or cooked broccoli florets, finely sliced scallions, leftover cooked green beans or other veggies, canned asparagus or artichoke, garlic mashed to a paste with a little salt, shredded herbs such as basil, parsley or cilantro... in other words everything but the kitchen sink.  I then add some dark red kidney beans and a sliced or diced hard boiled egg.  Hubby eats his with lite soy sauce, I prefer some Cardia salt substitute, a little seasoned rice vinegar and some extra-virgin olive oil.  

I'm writing to Eggland's Best to inquire about hormone and antibiotic use, which is the scourge of the meat/poultry industry, and under fire from government departments and health care sources.   They also claim the the rate of salmonella contamination is drastically lower in their product, partly due to the vegetarian diet.

Thanks for your interest in our eggs.  All plants contain natural hormones that regulate their physiology, just as with animals.  For example, the phytoestrogen hormones in soybeans are part of the reason why they are promoted as being healthy in our diet.  Plant hormones are present in all of the plant components of our own and our chickens' diets.  We don't add any additional hormones artificially and neither does any other poultry or egg producer anywhere.  It would serve to no advantage and it is not legal.  Antibiotics are used on very rare occasion in commercial egg production, but never in the Eggland's Best feeding program.

Alice Taylor
Consumer Services Specialist
Eggland's Best

Help. In the Potato Pie Dessert, how many eggs do you use? Thank you.

I don't have a Potato Pie Dessert on my site that I know of.  Please send me the address (the URL) and I'll see what I can tell you.

Is it true that spinach pizza can cause gallstones. I need to find out where i can get the answer.  Thanks.

This rumor was undoubtedly started by someone who had no intention of "contaminating" a pizza with spinach!  Think about it.  People eat spinach.  People eat pizza.  Do they get gallstones automatically?

Gallstones are promoted by, variously, eating fatty foods too much and too frequently leading to over-production of bile, high cholesterol, being overweight, abruptly going on a no-fat diet, lack of exercise, lack of drinking enough fluids which tends to concentrate the bile, advancing age, being female, being fair-skinned, having had multiple pregnancies, as well as other known and unknown congenital and environmental factors.   Sometimes no cause is apparent.  I even read that exposure to the sun raises the risk, but that's a little far out, unless it's because of associated dehydration.

Now, eat your pizza! 

Hello, I was just wondering what has more protein, the egg yolk itself, or the egg whites?  Thanks.

We have a link to the USDA searchable database where answers to questions like this can be easily obtained.  To answer your question, one large egg yolk contains 2.849 of protein and 5.248 of fat, in case you are interested.   One large egg white contains 3.472 grams of protein and 0 grams of fat.  Other nutrients vary.  If you must limit your fat, substituting egg whites helps somewhat, but you lose other good stuff.  To get more of the right kind of fats and less of the harmful sort, try specially produced eggs like Eggland's Best, from chickens fed a vegetarian diet high in Omega 3.

Forum Index
Page 1   2