Flaxseed, specifically, ground flaxseed, is a healthy addition to anyone’s diet. It’s high in fiber and is a non-animal source of valuable Omega 3′s, which help lower LDL cholesterol. You can sprinkle ground flaxseed (whole flaxseed passes through the body virtually untouched, without releasing nutrients) on breakfast cereal or add it to muffins, cakes, or breads you bake yourself.

I suppose you could sprinkle it on most anything, from fresh fruit to yogurt to even vegetables, although it might be less appetizing on some foods than on others. The downside of flaxseed for us was the calorie count. Because it is such a rich source of Omega 3 oil, it has 150 calories in a quarter cup, about what you might add to a recipe. That’s 37 calories per tablespoon. If you sprinkle a tablespoon on your cereal every morning, that’s an extra 1000 calories a month. That was enough to scare me off.

But we still had most of a bag of ground flaxseed left, and I certainly wasn’t going to throw it away. I spent some time thinking about what I could add it to where it wouldn’t make the calorie count skyrocket. I finally hit upon the answer: add it to our soft margarine! I know that sounds strange, but for us, it’s the answer. I use about two or three tablespoons of flaxseed in a small, 8-oz. tub of margarine, although you could add more or less to suit your taste.

Think about it: margarine is already a fat, so the calories are the same (or less). And you add the benefit of extra fiber to the food. Most of our margarine is used for toast. We can barely see the flaxseed when we butter our toast, and on the rare occasion that we butter vegetables, such as a baked sweet potato, the flaxseed is not objectionable. It adds a little color and texture to the veggies.

So if you’re looking for a way to add flaxseed to your diet painlessly, consider adding it to your margarine.