Ok, I exaggerate, but I’m seriously asking for suggestions for using up 3 bags of flaxseed meal my wife bought (she was on some health kick). She made some bread with it and it was honestly too nasty to eat. Same result when she tried cooking with it (used it to bread cutlets). The nutty flavour is too strong.
So she lost interest and the bags have been sitting there for weeks. I HATE throwing out food so I’m bound and determined to make something enjoyable with it.
Anyone have any suggestions for DESSERTS using flaxseed meal? I have no interest in restricting any ingredients (so sugars and regular flour are perfectly ok). I’m a pretty decent cook skill wise so I’m game to try anything that sounds interesting.
I eat flax meal every day. It did take a little while to get used to it. I made bread at first, and yes, it was horrible. I usually eat it mixed with natural peanut butter. I sometimes use it in meatballs instead of bread crumbs. I’ve used it for the crust in cheesecake. Here’s a recipe for flax crackers that sounded really good, but I haven’t tried it because I discovered the peanut butter thing so I usually just do that. Also, I sprinkle it over salad sometimes.
3 T whey protein powder
3 T flaxmeal (or 1.5 T seeds, ground)
1.5 T unprocessed wheat bran
1 T erythritol (or your choice of sweetener)
1 T Splenda or flavored syrup (coconut’s my favorite)
salt to taste
1 cup water
I make it over the stove. Much better. Put all the dry ingredients in, making sure there are no clumps. Add water slowly, stirring. Turn the stove on and stir frequently once it starts to boil. It’ll get thick fairly quickly (like Cream of Wheat). Put in a bowl, add 1 T coconut milk or cream or butter. Add other stuff, if you wish.
To make chocolate, add a T (or less, actually) of cocoa.
I also love it in Greek yogurt with Splenda and berries. Mixed with peanut butter, Splenda and sugar-free chocolate shavings. Or in a smoothie of any kind.
I’ve had flax crackers from the store. They’re fine.
Flax meal isn’t really something that should be the main ingredient. It should be a mixer that can’t really be tasted beyond the star of the recipe.
I throw it into most baked goods including waffles and pancakes. Cornbread, muffins, even a little bit in stuff like brownies. Put it in the freezer and just use it along.
Ditto the yogurt, especially if you throw in some dried fruit along with it.
Like others have said, it’s a supporting player, not the star of a recipe. The flavor does take some getting used to. I’ve used it in breadcrumb coating, added it to homemade quick bread, and muffins, but have not tried it in any kind of sweets like brownies, mostly because I’m a purist when it comes to chocolate
And yes, store it in the freezer. It becomes rancid very easily in warmer weather.
I don’t have the recipe handy right now, but I’ve done one batch of chocolate cake with flaxseed meal standing in for the eggs and it was honestly delicious. No noticeable taste difference. It’s the recipe off the back of the Hershey’s cocoa tin, and the instructions for subbing for eggs were on the bag of flaxseed meal – something like a quarter cup of meal let sit with two tablespoons of warm water for ten minutes until it gets good and disgustingly slimy (and egg-like). OR was it a tablespoon of meal per egg? I don’t remember, but the cake was delicious. I’ll come back when have recipe.
How old is it? Ground flaxseed goes rancid very easily, in a matter of months. Unless it’s been stored vacuum sealed or frozen against oxidation, I wouldn’t feed it to a horse much less a person after 8 weeks. Rancid fats are NOT a health benefit.
So you can’t really use it as a “main player” then? I had hoped that there was some recipe which used it well and I could get it used up quickly. Maybe in one or two big uses. I am afraid the stuff will go bad soon if I don’t use it up (it’s been in the pantry for a while - though it’s all sealed so should still be good). Frankly I have no interest in it’s purported health uses as such, I just hate hate HATE throwing away food. Especially expensive food (which this stuff was).
Well the “sell by date” on the package was 02/07/14 so I think they’re still good. All the packages are sealed (have 3 left - tossed the one she opened as it’s DEF gone bad since it was kept unsealed in a cupboard).
Cost wise probably around 5 bucks each bag if memory serves. Not much I know, but I still hate tossing it if it’s still good.
As for taste wise, I think it’s just a very particular strong taste. Didn’t really care for it. Reminded me slightly of overly strong/slightly old walnuts. Maybe that means it was rancid after all?
You could make a good argument that its not really food, so throwing it out would be just fine. Those things fall into my personal category of almost-but-not-quite-food-items, along with pine cones and bay leaves.
How about putting it in the bird feeder or adding it to your compost bin?
Think of it this way, though - it’d be expensive compared to flour, but you don’t use it as much as flour. Where you might add 1-2c of flour to a recipe you’d add 2-4T of flax meal. It’s way way cheaper than almond meal or coconut flour, and you tend to use that stuff more like flour.
I’ll buy a bag of flax meal and it’ll last me months, just putting some in smoothies and yogurt here and there. If I keep it in the freezer, it’s fine way past it’s sell-by date.
Keep it in a Ziploc freezer bag in the freezer, and add 2-4T of it to stuff every so often, for an extra bit of fiber and omega-3 fatty acids. You can never go wrong adding those things to your diet.
If your wife decides she wants to keep buying the stuff, price it out at places like Whole Foods or even low-end grocery stores. You don’t have to keep paying $5/bag.
