Flax Seed

[iaborn42]

I read in a magazine about taking flax seed and grinding it and mixing it with cinnamon to sprinkle on food. Have any of you tried this? Can I do this and then keep it for awhile or do I need to grind them when I am ready to eat them?

[ShelShel]

You can do it either way. I buy mine ground up. I keep them in the fridge and use them all the time.
Slice up and apple, sprinkle it with cinnamon and flax, drizzle some agave and you have something that tastes (to me) like apple pie. :D

You can make raw pancakes by mixing flax, agave, coconut oil and a pinch of water. Mix, flatten and cover with berries. Yum!

flax is used in raw crackers that you put in the dehydrator, as well as, raw pizza crust and onion bread.

It has many uses and is great for you too! Eat up! :D

[ulimana]

Flax oils tens to go bad quickly, especially storing ground flax meal. i would grind in a mortar before use! i do a couple tablespoons on cereal in the morning, or on fruit with a pre-ground 1:1:3 clove/allspice/cinnamon mix! too much information?

[iaborn42]

Great information. I have a bowl and motar so maybe that is the way I will do them. That will be easy enough.

[Andre]

To keep the oil in the flax seeds fresh:

- Store in a tight container
- Kept out of light
- Refridgerate/Freeze
- Blend/Grind them to make the seeds more digestible

The above will help the seeds from going rancid which happens extremely quickly.

[iaborn42]

Well I had some this morning but I had trouble getting them to grind. I tried the bowl and motar and that didn't work. I am going to have to find another method to grind them up.

[shashibala]

A coffee grinder works well for me.:)

[Snoozy]

I believe that whole flaxseed keeps for quite a while in the fridge. Then, use a coffee grinder (usually $10) to grind your seeds. It's quick and easy. If I remember correctly, you should only grind enough for a few days or a week, longer than that and it starts to loose nutrients. I never buy my flaxseed already ground for that reason.

[Andre]

Coffee grinders -

If you get a coffee grinder to grind them up, try to get one that says '150 watts' (or more) on the bottom. I tested three individually:

75 watts - Chopped them up, but didn't fully grind them
150 watts - ground them well
170 watts - ground them well

The more finely they are ground the more surface area your body has to digest them and the more is utilized by your body. It's worth it to spend the extra $10.00 on a grinder that give give you quality grounded flaxseeds that you can depend on. Think of the money you'll be saving if you were to be buying flax oil! Not to mention that no matter how flax oil is packaged you don't know how long the seeds have been sitting around, how exactly they are prepared, or even if while distributing they were left in a warm environment. I don't trust these companies that say they 'cold press' the flax seeds. Cold pressing is still heat and it DOES damage the qualities! Flax seed oil is extremely unstable and goes rancid quick!

Fresh is best! ;)

[ulimana]

make sure the flax seeds have not gotten any moisture in them too; they will grind and crunch easier. ive got this one:

http://importfood.com/media/mortarandpestlef072l.jpg

just put some muscle in it for about a minute. its an early morning workout.