Buy flax seeds whole and grind them yourself. They should be kept in the freezer. I put them in muffins and about 1 T. in my fruit smoothy.

I do plan to buy them whole and grind them, I've heard that the whole seed in the freezer lasts longer. Chia seeds sound interesting, I'll go take a look.

Lucille, that's exactly how to do it. I do grind a container and keep that in the frig to use regularly. My seeds are in the freezer.

Look at chia seeds.....they're a mega food too.

I'm experimenting with milk kefir now. I've been playing around with it for a week now, and my grains have multiplied so that I need to share some. Kefir is a probiotic and is excellent for lactose-intolerant people.

So far we've had smoothies, pancakes, biscuits, popsicles made from smoothies, salad dressing, and I made a cheese. The cheese is quite tart/sour, so I'm not sure how to use it.

I put them in my oatmeal for breakfast. I buy a Chia seed/flax seed mix.

In a totally different vein, I use the flax seeds sprinkled on my dog's food. She had totally lost all her fur, doctor recommended this to see if it helped. WOW you should see her now. She's a redhead pomeranian with a beautiful coat of hair. So, I tried sprinkling it over our breakfast cereal and loved it. Makes for a pleasant change from sprinkling cinnamon (good for diabetics!) or sugar.

Wow, justlinda. I wonder if it's good for hair growth in general.

Have never seen it advertised as such, but both husband and I have full head of hair (mind you it's all grey). LOL

I use it in my heat bags instead of corn.

It is widely used for constipation as Chia seeds are. And it works very, very well without pain.

I eat a tablespoon on my yogurt. It's more filling. I haven't noticed my hair becoming fuller. Sorry to say it's thin as usual...:0)

It probably makes hair shiny.

I used to boil it up to for giving to a horse occasionally. Gives them a shiny coat.

I understand that it is okay to eat if ground. (I had always read in horse books that it needed to be boiled.)

Years ago, I read that if you want to see how fast (or slowly) your digestive process works, eat a tablespoon of flax seeds and wait for them to reappear!

I should use more flax, but I forget about it in the freezer. I use chia often--in salads, sometimes in drinks, but mostly in baked goods. I made 'healthy' chocolate chip cookies last night with chia, and I always put some in strawberry-oat bars--they look like strawberry seeds, so no one suspects.

I learned not to use chia seeds in a Kombucha second ferment--when I opened the bottle, the 'fizz' propelled chia seeds onto my shirt!

Learning to like kefir is an ongoing process. We really like kefir bread, and I've adapted one of my starters to using kefir instead of milk, but grainlady pointed out that the probiotic benefits are lost if the kefir is heated. For a time I was making whey lemonade, and using the cheese in a boursin type spread. The spread is good if you use it right away, but if it sits, even in the fridge, the kefir cheese continues to sour. I like the whey lemonade, but decided it's too much effort, so I started adding a few tablespoons of kefir to a glass of regular milk--I'm hoping that I'll be able to increase it as I get used to the taste. And since I'm drinking a glass of milk, I reward myself with a 'healthy' cooky. ;)

I do the same when I eat corn! :-)

Some of the goodness gets lost in cooking with kefir, but there are still many more benefits of it, than not using it at all. It has far more goodness than buttermilk and yogurt, which can both be used for cooking, so I'm continuing making pancakes and biscuits etc with my kefir.

I put some whey in cranberry juice yesterday and it made for a nice fizzy drink. I add whey if I have some, in addition to kefir in smoothies.

I made kefir cheese and it's getting more tart as it sits in the frig, so definitely a feta type use for it. I made sour cream this morning, and have to use it quickly before it gets too sour.

I've given grains away to 2 different people this week. That's remarkable, as I only got the grains a week and a half ago!

I'm making peach preserves again today, so I tried some of today's kefir over chopped fresh peaches for lunch. It tastes OK, so I think the cheese eaten with fresh fruit would work, as long as there is more fruit than kefir..

ground flax on my daily oatmeal

"I've given grains away to 2 different people this week. That's remarkable, as I only got the grains a week and a half ago!"

For some reason that reminded me of 'The Trouble with Tribbles"

"For some reason that reminded me of 'The Trouble with Tribbles""

That's funny!!!

I used ground flax in my morning cereal for a few years. I had heard it would aid in dealing with hot flashes. As with most of these remedy of the day (apple Cider Vinegar, cinnamon, glucoceman...) type fads I experienced no change. Some bodies are more sensitive to minute changes than others is all I can conclude.

For several years I was using ground flax seed ( a tablespoon or so on my morning yogurt) and found it works great with making me "regular". Then I saw the whole flax seed and have been using that. I prefer the crunchy taste and flavor. I find it works the same, and I am pleased with it. I can say my hair is not any thicker or shinier though.

Are you saying that I am better off using the ground or milled flax seed?

For the kefir tangent--I used kefir in cobbler dough today, instead of milk. I forgot to add baking soda, but it is very good, and very light.

Sheila, I'm new to KT and following this topic with interest.

Google says: Do you have to grind flax seeds to eat them?

Your body utilizes the mucilage from the outer coating of the unbroken seeds, which does have health benefits, but will not take advantage of the Omega's within the seeds." You can buy flax seeds already ground up (often called flax meal) or grind them yourself with a cheap coffee grinder.

PRE-GROUND VS HOME-GROUND (from "Eating Well" web)

While pre-ground flaxseeds offer similar amounts of protein, total fat, fiber, minerals and vitamins as those you buy whole and grind yourself, they likely contain lower levels of heart-healthy polyunsaturated fats, including omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), says Swanson. Pre-ground flaxseed has been exposed to oxygen longer; oxygen causes polyunsaturated fats to break down. (So do heat and light.) Tell-tale sign that this has occurred: an off smell and/or flavor you might call “rancid" *