VitaMuffins: Take Two.

I am a slave to media in all forms. I love TV, books, magazines, podcasts, blogs, social networking sites, movies, newspapers, and commercials. I will try or buy pretty much anything. I have been known to watch an entire infomercial. The phrase "Oooh, I want that" has passed over my lips more than any other 4-word combination in the span of my life.

Mix this consumer-driven mentality with a love for food, and you've got me -- a hungry, hungry girl, always looking for the next best thing to gobble up while keeping away from the 200lb. side of the scale. Enter HungryGirl. I've been receiving Lisa Lillien's daily email newsletter for well over a year now, and she is always sharing the scoop on the latest and greatest products. (She's even clever and witty enough to have earned a link on my sidebar).

Now, I adore HG, and I love her morsels of food knowledge and tips. But there's a few things HG swears by that I haven't been able to hop on board with. The first was tofu shirataki noodles. Cook 'em, dry 'em, and enjoy 'em, HG says. I have spent half an hour and half a roll of paper towels on these bad boys, and I simply cannot get them to be dry enough to be anywhere near edible. Yech.

The other major disagreement I had with HG was her endorsement of VitaMuffins and VitaTops. As soon as I read about them, I was so excited to try them! Delicious chocolatey flavors! Tons of fiber (I was on a WeightWatchers kick at the time)! Your daily vitamins and minerals! Not to mention I love a good breakfast baked good. I hightailed it to Harris Teeter and snatched a box of these little lovers.

I didn't even make it through one. I thought they were dry and required too much chewing. Plus, they were required to remain frozen, and when I followed the defrost microwave directions, the middle was steaming hot and the muffin top was still cold and gross. EW.

This past weekend, I was picking up a few things at our newly remodeled WinnDixie when I spotted my favorite attraction of all grocery stores -- the clearance freezer. And what was in there? VitaMuffins! 4 in a box for $1.99!! Normally these puppies retail (4 in a box) for well over 5 bones, so even though I knew I kind of hated them, I couldn't resist the deal (see opening paragraph of this blog post). I added a box of Deep Chocolate to my shopping basket and hurried home. I threw the muffins in my freezer and never thought twice about them.

And then this morning, it was exactly one week since we had been all-out grocery shopping, which means most of the food staples were gone, and we were left with the dregs (this is also the point of the week where Deane kindly points out that all of his delicious food purchases -- chips, KitKats, sugary cereal, etc. -- have been consumed, and we are left with my healthy intentions -- yogurt, high fiber bread and wraps, and cottage cheese). I remembered my muffins and popped one in the micro before I hit the gym.

I was skeptical, but it turns out the muffin was pretty good! Not great, but good. I still had a problem with the de-thawing not being even, and I had to eat it with a fork because of the choco-chip meltiness factor, but it was satisfying -- although I can see it as more of a nighttime snack with a glass of milk. I don't know what changed my mind, but I am glad I gave the VMs another shot. Maybe I should try it with more foods I thought I hated with a fiery passion. I might be surprised what goodies I discover!