seeds | Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

“Light nutty flavor that is great in oatmeal, smoothies, pancakes and waffles.”

RANT

Unfortunately Trader Joe’s discontinued a very good product they used to carry, Whole Roasted Flax Seeds – and replaced it with this one: ORGANIC GROUND FLAXSEED MEAL. Meal of course meaning they pre-ground the seeds.

You know there are people who buy ground coffee. Other like myself prefer to buy coffee beans. Reason being, coffee beans which you grind before using it is so much fresher.

I preferred to buy the whole flax seeds which I would grind myself, which was not terribly hard to do in a hand grinder I got.

That way the flax seed meal was totally freshly, compared to flax seeds already ground up here.

I used to grind the whole flax seeds up with a second coffee grinder, I use for grinding things besides coffee, like some seeds and whole spices. I would grind up the whole flax seeds every day or so, which is ideal as they contain natural oils which are best fresh .

I think Whole Foods might sell whole flax seeds?

For the time being, I got this new version that Trader Joe’s replaced that product with. I use flax seeds in a few ways, for mixing into my Kefir, and smoothies and or adding into baked goods or pancakes.

Sadly I found that these pre-ground flax meal is not as good. The taste is off to me. I don’t know if they use Golden or Brown flax seeds, it looks like it’s made from a dark and a light seed.

I’m sure Trader Joe’s wanted to make it “easy” for you (as in, “what kind of customer is going to grind them themselves”?) Guess what, I did it, it’s not terribly hard and was preferable to me at least if you care about the flax meal being super fresh.

So get this if you want them pre-ground. Be sure to refrigerate the package after opening to keep as fresh as possible. Maybe even keeping this in the freezer is best?

In short, that discontinued whole flax seed was a better product. Grinding them ourselves guaranteed freshness, which this does not. So another RANT!

$~~3.99~~ / 1 lb

Another option might be to just buy whole flax seeds (AMAZON) These aren’t toasted but you could do that yourself pretty easily. (MAR 2026 cost is $6/lb)

Trader Joe’s Organic Chia Seeds

Ingredients: Organic Chia Seeds

Chia Seeds Benefits: The Omega-3, Protein-Packed Superfood

“TALK ABOUT A POWERHOUSE”

These teeny tiny chia seeds truly are a superfood powerhouse. If you aren’t eating chia seeds already perhaps you should be. I eat some every morning.

No doubt you’ve heard about them. How they are a true superfood with lots of health benefits being benificial to heart health, blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and more. Not too mention digestion and keeping you regular as they provide lots of soluble fiber.

These teeny blacks seeds are packed with protein, Omega 3‘s and other goodies, again especially fiber. When soaked in liquid the seeds both swell up and gel up absorbing twenty seven times their weight in water. By the way the chia seed gel smooths things in your digestive tract so can help keep you regular. Another benefit.

They are especially great for adding to smoothies, cereal, pancakes or drinks. They can be used as a natural thickener. The seeds are so tiny they have a tendency to go everywhere and I do mean everywhere, so be very careful when you use these. If you spill these, well they are a real pain to clean up. Get them wet and they stick to everything. So don’t wet them. If you do spill them just try to brush them or vacuum them up and good luck with that…!)

TIP: Careful handling them!! These tiny seeds can go everywhere in an instant if you are not very careful. Rather than using the bag they come in, I pour the seeds into a small glass jar and just use that (and a tiny scoop) as its much easier to handle, than opening and closing this bag all the time. I have spilled seeds many times and they are not easy to clean up as they are so tiny and when wet stick to everything.

I usually mix them into soy milk, oat milk or kefir. Leave them a few minutes to absorb the liquid. They will swell up in 5-10 minutes. Then I add them to my yogurt/kefir/soy milk liquid .( Don’t eat them without soaking them in liquid.)

TJ’s Chia Seeds (12 oz) $~~4.99~~. ~~$5.49~~ $5.99, and actually went back down to 5.49 last time I got them)

PRODUCT OF PARAGUAY

Trader Joe’s sells a number of super food seeds including chia seeds, flax seeds, a mix of chia and flax, as well as hemp seeds. All of these are good for you and are things you can easily incorporate into your diet, daily, especially I think at breakfast where you can add 1 or 2 tablespoons into your cereal, yogurt or smoothie. Try CHIA SEED PUDDING; very easy and very good! (another one in link below)

Trader Joe’s carries a lot of “powerhouse seeds” like CHIA, FLAX and HEMP SEEDS. My Trader Joe’s has a “Smoothies Section” featuring all of these plus other products to make smoothies (protein powders, etc)

https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-chia-seeds

CHIA SEED PUDDING

https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/3-ingredient-chia-pudding/