Flax seeds, with their high concentration of omega-3 fatty acids and fiber, have been widely touted as a health food.  Because of the potential health benefits and their unique nutty flavor, Mike’s Mix has added finely ground flax seed to its product line.  Mike and I try daily to creatively include flax seed in our cooking and thought we would share some of our ideas with you.

Be Creative!

Try it on your cottage cheese and hummus, mix it with your ground hamburger, the possibilities are endless. You may be surprised at what combinations are tasty and you won’t know if it tastes good until you try!  If you do find a good recipe or trick, please share!

Here are some ideas that we have had success with:

Mango greek yogurt sprinkled with ground flaxseed.

• Mix in with pizza crust
• Include in smoothies
• Mix in soups
• Use as a topping on salads
• Add to scrambled eggs
• Add to peanut butter sandwiches
• Add to pancake, muffin or cookie mix
• Add to oatmeal
• Sprinkle on ice cream (yummy!)
• Mix with beans
• Mix with spaghetti sauce
• Sprinkle on yogurt 

Some recipes I’m excited to try: Chocolate granola bars, Fiesta Salsa, and Breaded Tilapia. If you try any of these, let me know what you think.

I tried this cookie recipe from www.sheknows.com.

Farmland Flax Cookies

Makes approximately 9 dozen cookies (I made big cookies and came up with 4 dozen)

My daughter posing with the cookie dough

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cups of butter

1-1/4  cups of granulated sugar

1-1/2 cups ground flax seed

3 large eggs

1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)

1 tablespoon baking soda

3 cups of oats

Directions:

1. In a bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in flax seed. In another bowl, beat eggs and vanilla together. Combine with flax mixture. Sift together the flour and soda. Mix in oatmeal and combine with other ingredients.
2. Form dough into 1-1/2 inch round logs. Place in freezer and chill. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Slice logs into 1/4-inch medallions. Place on baking sheet leaving about 2 inches between cookies. Bake 13 to 15 minutes. Remove from sheet and cool.
   

   Mike and Adam taking a cookie break from work

The cookie results? Make sure you don’t bake them any longer than 15 minutes! Doing so will result in a very, very dry cookie (this happened to the first sheet of cookies I baked). I ate these with my yogurt and dunked them in my tea finding them to be delicious.  Mike and Adam loved them so much they climbed the walls! However, I think the next time I make this recipe, I will add raisins or some such fruit to add a little sweetness and moisture to the cookie.