Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Okay folks. I have a bag of flax seeds, but not a coffee grinder. I'm not planning on making any other purchases in the near future, but I'm worried about getting enough omegas in my diet. I'm trying to figure out if there's a good method other than ground flax for getting them. The ground flax worked well for a while, but that was when I was doing smoothies every morning. That's not happening right now.

I do have a great food processor and could throw the flax in there, but I'm wondering if they would even get pulverized enough to work in other dishes. But really I just want a different method. I would be open to considering supplements or other food sources.

Ideas?

do you have a blender? that's how i grind mine. and i suspect that even if you don't your processor would work just fine.
but to answer your question....

you can also sprout flaxseeds. i would prefer to eat ground seeds, but who knows, you might like it. see also
http://www.sproutpeople.com/seed/flax.html

another source of omegas is walnuts, i try to eat some every so often because my flax intake is irregular.

I have a container of flax seeds in my fridge, and whenever I want to use some, I just grind a couple spoonfuls with my mortar and pestle.
I didn't know you could sprout flax seeds. That's pretty fascinating.
BTW, chia seeds and hemp seeds also contain omegas.

yup! try walnuts or chia seeds! but supplements are probably the best if you're concerned about it. vpure has a buy 2 get one free deal although that's about the same price as a spice grinder, probably.

Thanks guys! I've just been so irregular about using flax seed in stuff because I forget about it. I'm should just make myself eat some walnuts with my vitamins in the morning because, really, that's more delicious than a chore.

Yep, I also used to grind in my blender or use the mortar and pestle (a bit of a pain for largish amounts). Now I'm tending to just use pre-ground flaxmeal that I keep in the freezer.

You can get hemp oil from big supermarkets, it's yummy mopped up with bread. They have flax oil and a mixed 'omega oil' too, but I haven't tried them as they're very expensive.

flax is unsurpassed for cheapness and ratio of omega 3s to 6s but chia's not far behind, then hemp, then maybe pumpkin seed. Cooking (on low temperature) with canola oil or just using it (or hemp oil, flax oil etc) in salad dressings would help too. You can also buy preground flax meal. Make sure to get it in an opaque bag and store it in your freezer for maximum effectiveness.

I put a tablespoon of whole flax seeds in my oatmeal.

not to sound like a know it all, you can't really digest whole flax seeds. they'll just come out the way they went in. You have to grind them to get the good stuff out of them.

FML, seriously? That kind of sucks. What the hell is the point of selling them whole if you aren't supposed to eat them that way? Don't some granola bars have whole flax seeds in them?

yeah, and they are pointless! i mean, maybe they aren't 100% pointless, but mostly. If you ever eat those flax seed crackers you'll notice them in the toilet the next day. if you have a coffee grinder you can grind them easily. thats what i do with whole ones, but usually i'm lazy and buy pre ground. sorry!

Stuff like this makes me wonder how stupid I really am....

I didn't know that until I took a nutrition class! and just recently in one of my graduate nutrition classes the teacher asked how flax seeds had to be prepared to be most absorbed and only a couple people knew

They're mostly sold whole because they stay fresh longer that way than pre-ground. You can find pre-ground bob's red mill in opaque packaging. I buy that and throw it in the freezer rather than grinding my own all the time.

I do the same but I forget to use them and now I just take a supplement.

Ok, so I put Bob's Red Mill Organic Flax Seed Meal in my oatmeal this morning. It made it thick and fluffier, I dig it!

Whoo! This thread has been a source of inspiration for me too. Last weekend I tried to make my own granola bars (epic fail!), and the sad result is this very sticky mess of crumbled cereals, dried fruits and nuts and shredded coconut that's much too sweet to be eaten on its own, so I mixed it with some very bland whole wheat flakes and added some ground flax seed (and soy milk), and now it's edible and I feel I'm doing something about that omega thing. ;)

You rock! I love baking blunders that get turned into miracles of yummy goodness. I made my own granola years ago, it was delish. But I have not tried an actual granola bar, that takes skill.

One thing to note: if you're adding ground flax seeds to your oatmeal, make sure you do it AFTER the oatmeal is cooked. Otherwise you lose a lot of the good stuff!

Okay guys, so I'm going to try and use some of the flax seed I have in dishes like muesli in the morning. I'm hoping my food processor will pulverize them enough to get it almost ground since I'm going to going to buy a grinder.

I'm also making my own muesli and could only find oats here (no wheat germ or wheat bran to add to it). I'm going to put some walnuts in the muesli along with raisins, almonds, and maybe some dried apricot. I'm hoping this will help me get the omegas I need.

I can't win!

I buy the Bob's Red Mill pre ground flax and keep them in my fridge cause I heard somewhere that freezing them destroys good stuff. I throw them on my oatmeal after cooking it. I've also discovered that mixing ground flax with nooch and salt makes an addictive sprinkle for salad, pasta, toast, etc. It's a good way to get my flax in if I don't have oat meal for breakfast, and because it's so tasty, I remember to use it. I keep this mix in my fridge too.

Ooh, totally like mock gomasio! This sounds great; I must try this.