This will be the most backward Gratituesday and Try it Tuesday ever! I’m thankful today for the blessing (?) of throwing away food that I tried for the first time. Augh! I hate throwing away food! (How much do Americans throw away? See this post for more.) I conserve food so stringently that one friend will start telling a story in which food is tossed, and hesitantly say, “I know how you are about this stuff…”
In doing the research for the last Food for Thought on flax, which I thought I knew plenty about, I learned a bit more about the longevity (or lack thereof) of both flaxseed and flax oil. I had to check my stash of both in the fridge.
I tasted the ground flax meal from its clear plastic bag, then checked with hubby: nutty or bitter? Augh! Bitter! I should have known better than to buy it in clear plastic, but it was from the health food store, and a great deal compared to what I usually see (of course), and I let my foolish brain be talked into the fact that the health food store should know what they’re doing. Shucks. I had to throw out my flaxseed meal (like tearing flesh out of my body!).
Now for the real tear-jerker. I bought some flax oil for the first time during Lent, when I was learning to make my own salad dressings. I kept seeing flax oil as such a healthy add-in, and I have been trying to include more flax in our diets for a few years because of high triglycerides in the family. I thought I knew what I was doing: buy only refrigerated, opaque bottles, cold-pressed, etc etc. The health food store was within those guidelines, and – what a pleasant surprise! – had a sale running on flax oil when I dropped in. It was for the big 20 oz bottle, but I knew we could eventually use it all. I’m still stuck in the bigger-is-better buy-it-on-sale mentality that works with processed foods.
As I researched, I found all sorts of crazy risks and side effects of flax oil, and how unstable it really was. It began to dawn on me that my flax oil (only about one third gone, maybe less) was probably rancid already. It’s been open for a few months, and my research tells me that the stuff probably goes rancid 6 weeks after pressing. Uh-oh. Checking the fridge this Sunday: “Pressed on 10/16/2008, Best before 4/21/2009″ What a deal. Can you hear the sarcasm dripping through cyberspace? I still haven’t thrown it away yet, but I know I need to. I just want to rail at God a bit more: “Why does this happen to me? I don’t like wasting money! I’m just trying to feed my family healthy foods, and here I am feeding them poison!” He loves me and knows I’m just blowing off steam.
Here’s His reply, in an ever-so-gentle tone:
“Aren’t you glad you found out about this before feeding them the rest of the bottle? Don’t you pray to be taught about humility? You can’t know everything, all the time.”
Me: “But I want to!!”
The Lord: “Look forward to Heaven, then, my child.”
Me (humbly): “Ok. Do I have to throw it out right now, or can I leave it in the fridge to remind me of my stupidity and be self-deprecating a bit more?”
Shucks.
So I’m grateful today that I have to throw out a bottle of oil that cost in the double digits. I tried it…and I don’t think I’ll try it again. Too risky, bodily and financially. I’m grateful that I have to throw out flaxseed meal that was a “good deal”. I’m grateful that I’m being taught humility. I’m grateful I’m not going to feed this stuff to my family anymore and that I know what to look for in the future. I am praying that God protected my kids from any rancid flax I’ve fed them in the past few months. I just have to trust Him.
Would anyone out there like to join me in my pity party? Tears to shed over my loss of flax? Thanks for listening!
Find more to be grateful for at Heavenly Homemakers’ Gratituesday and some inspiration to try new things (hopefully more positive than mine!) at Try It Tuesday at Naturally Knocked Up, as well as Talk About Tuesday at The Lazy Organizer. What are other people trying in their kitchens? Find out at Fearless Fridays at Home-Ec 101.
I’d love to see more of you! Sign up for an email subscription or grab my reader feed.
If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.
Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money. If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.
More to talk about:
- What’s in My Freezer?
- How Much Does my Dishwasher Cost?
- Praying in the Kitchen
- Two Paradigms of Healthy Eating
- Hand Sanitizers in the Home
- How to Buy Reduced Produce
- Honey, We’re Having a Crudite Platter Tonight!
- I’m a Garlic Virgin
- Why I love Glass Containers
- Natural Dishwasher Detergent Experiments
man I have no idea about such things wish I knew more thanks for sharing and will be back to check more out
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Aw, sorry about the “loss”. I enjoyed reading how you turned it all around to a positive. Thanks for sharing!
Char @ DigiScrapChat’s last blog post..You CAN survive in Vegas with no A/C in the car… who knew?
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If you ever want to try it again you can try just buying the seeds. Then with my stick blender and a slender container ( the seeds will fly if you give them room) I squeeze my blender into the container after putting some flax seed in the bottom and whir away. I do stop it and pull it back up to knock the meal back under and whir it again. I usually grind up only a little at a time but use it all week. In oatmeal, cookies, biscuits, pancakes. I’m sure I am supposed to measure but I just sneak in a little whenever I can.
Hope this helps.
Lynnette’s last blog post..cloth diapering
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Katie Reply:
June 9th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
A stick blender I actually have…maybe I could handle this! I emailed my health food store and told them not to store flaxmeal in clear plastic though! Thanks so much for the tip!
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What works great is a little coffe grinder, used just for flax seeds. You only grind what you need and use it right away. Also-get the “golden” variety of flax seeds, they seem to taste sweeter and milder. My kids like fresh ground golden flax in their oatmeal.
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Katie,
Thanks for this post I just found. I’m checking my flax right now and feel sick, just like you did, about throwing away food and money!! …and I’ve been making “superfood smoothies” for my friends with this flax! Lord, help us (:
-Katie B.
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I feel your pain! I don’t compost in the typical way (yet) but before I throw any food out I consider whether I can just add it to my garden. I did this with some old whole wheat flour before a gentle rain would soak it in. I didn’t want white mulch!
I even do this with leftover water from steaming vegetables and boiling corn. I either save it to cook with, drink it myself, feed it to the dog or pour it on thirsty plants! Since nutrients leach into the water I can’t just pour them down the drain!
Keep my whole flax seed in the freezer until I grind it to retain freshness.
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Sorry for your loss, glad you shared so we can benefit. Loved your transcript of your conversation with God.
We stopped eating artificials at Easter and somehow I found your blog and subscribed. You are light years ahead of us and give me tons to think about and research. Enjoy it!
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Katie Reply:
June 30th, 2011 at 4:08 pm
You’ll “catch up” before you know it (with a few bumps in the road like this one along the way).
Katie
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Try not to feel bad about your losses, how were you supposed to know? These things happen, it’s part of the learning curve. I bought flax oil once a long time ago just before I learned how very fragile and unstable it is once the seed is broken open. I mean it practically starts deteriorating immediately upon being ground, you just have to look at it the wrong way and it starts to go downhill, haha!!
) I had to throw mine out as well. Ever since I have not purchased any flax product and I do what someone else has already suggested – grinding it as I need it and using it immediately, or grinding enough for a week max (I have a dedicated little coffee grinder I use for this). I also keep the flax seeds and ground flax in the freezer.
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Ugh. Humility can be a real tough one! So cool that you found gratitude in this situation, though!
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Katie – TAKE THAT OIL BACK TO THE STORE! I work in a small whole foods store and we try valiantly to manage the expired items but a few slip through the cracks. We always take those items as full returns if we accidentally sell them to a customer. If your store doesn’t do that, take it up the ladder to the store manager or owner. That’s not acceptable for them to sell you two year old flax oil!
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KristinaD Reply:
June 30th, 2011 at 10:39 am
I agree! If you bought it this year, take it back!!! Even if they only give you store credit it would be worth the time!
God is good at reminding us we can’t do it alone. Heed his gentle warning. Or He will smack you upside the head.
He often has to do that with me when I refuse to listen.
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Katie Reply:
June 30th, 2011 at 4:17 pm
Kim,
I want to say the oil was about 2 months before expiration when I bought it, but I totally wasn’t quick enough at using the whole (rather large) bottle. My oops! 
Katie
You are too sweet – but the oil wasn’t two years old, this post is just two years old.
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My opinion (for what it’s worth, and that has some pretty serious research behind it) is that risks go up when processing goes up. So flax oil can be a great thing here and there, or when you know you need to up your intake dramatically for a while (this can be great for telling your body that the famine is over and get it into a healthy mode of processing a nutrient that has been scarce), but seriously, if you took more than a few tablespoons of flax seed or flax meal, there are a few benefits to consider: a tablespoon of flax OIL would probably take, what, 5 or 6 or more tablespoons of seeds to make?!
Second, I don’t know how to do that myself. I COULD, however, grind flax with my teeth, a mortar and pestle, or my coffee grinder (which I only use for that and sesame seeds).
Third, there are other nutrients in Flax that don’t make it into flax OIL. I believe that God puts things in great packaging, adding ingredients that counter negatives that other ingredients might have.
Lastly, if you did take tablespoons and tablespoons of flax seed or meal, the laxative effect would likely prevent you from assimilating much, thereby avoiding overdose.
It makes sense to me that old PARTS of foods, whether preserved ideally or not, are less ideal than whole foods.
ps. If you want to be VERY idealistic about your omega 3′s heat sensitivity, Udo Erasmus says it’s far better to boil than to bake or fry.
pps. Wow, we add virgin olive oil to our butter, about 1:2 or half-and half, to make it spreadable and a little cheaper and healthier, and it is so delicious with a little Flax or Udo’s Oil added. So if you’re looking for a way to use those oils quickly, nothing makes a baked potato or fresh popped corn taste so satisfying.
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The same goes for vitamin E, Iron, Calcium, …you name it. Supplements are a blessing! But food is awesome medicine, if we just use it. Thank you, a million times, Katie, for helping me learn more and more about nutritious and delicious food!!!
I LOVE your cookbooks!
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