Flax seeds contain fiber, lignans and essential fatty acids that can improve your health as well as prevent diseases such as certain cancers.  You can buy the flax seeds whole and grind in a coffee grinder everyday.  Read on for simple ways to add these nutritious seeds to your foods such as soups, baked good and salads.

Flax seed is full of Omega 3’s, fiber, and antioxidants.  You can easily purchase various mill and grind sizes of flax seed depending on what type of food you wish to incorporate it with, be it for baked goods, snacks, cereal, etc.  For instance, you may want a powder consistency for a beverage or a larger grind size for visual appeal to bring out the whole-grain ‘look’ on a salad, corn chips, crackers or in baked goods.

Here are a few of my tips for using flax seed in your favorite dishes:

• Bake into your favorite scones, muffins, cookies, breads, and other baked goods
• Mix with fresh fruit into your yogurt
• Add to your home-made trail mix, trail bars or popcorn
• Mix  into your favorite burger or meatless patty recipe
• Add to your wraps, sandwiches and salads by combining with mayonnaise or mustard
• Stir into your warm or cold breakfast cereal
• Sprinkle into your pancake and waffle mix
• Combine with breadcrumbs when coating the eggplant or chicken (in your Parmesan meals)

Surprisingly, flax seed can be used in place of eggs in pancakes, waffles, cookies, scones, and muffins.   You can simply substitute 1 tbsp. ground flax seed for 1 large egg in addition to 3 tbsp. of water in any recipe.  Please note that the texture of your baked goods will be slightly altered and will appear and taste more “gummy” than if you had used the egg.

Do you use flax seeds?  If so, share with us tips on how you incorporate them into your diet.