Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is my sanity back.

<3, The Cranky One

Hey guys! It’s been a while, eh? I’ve been having major blog withdrawals, but have made the sage choice to take a little break while I finish up this semester. Basically, I’ve been barricaded in my room, which isn’t too bad considering my room is a haven of distractions :/ (actually, maybe that IS a bad thing!).  You know you’re a grad student when your idea of “dressing up” is putting on silly socks…

That’s pretty much what I’ve looked like the past few days — oversized t-shirt, work-out shorts, Beetlejuice socks and some sort of food making its way into my oversized mouth.  Can’t lie — while I’ve certainly been working out my jaw with all the chewing I’ve been doing, that’s pretty much the extent of exercise I’ve done.  Oh wait, I’ve exercised my little brain.  That should count!  Right? Can I get an “amen”?!

Annnnnnnnyway, I wanted to share a few neat things with you before I hibernate yet again.  The first is a cool stocking stuffer idea (or just get one for yourself – they’re neato!):

Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Nibs — These little tin cans pack tons of chocolate yumminess and 140 calories

You can compare them to Sweet Riot’s EXACT same 140 calorie tin (hey, imitation is flattery, right?). I first wrote about Sweet Riot here.

The main difference is that Sweet Riot has more flavors, however, isn’t as widely accessible as Trader Joe’s products. I couldn’t find Sweet Riot products sold near me and found I’d have to pay too much in shipping to get them, so this is great news that I can I go to TJ’s and get my fix!  These would be perfect stocking stuffers!

Thanks go to Hungry Girl’s newsletter for the product news!

Another cool thing?  Trader Joe’s Deep, Dark Gingerbread Cake & Baking Mix

Remember when I wrote here that the gingerbread men were following me?  Well now they can follow me right on over to my own oven, ‘cuz I’m in love with this mix.  All you do is add an egg, some vegetable oil and water and presto –  Thick, gooey cake/bread!  It has the perfect texture and taste to satisfy your gingerbread craving! It tastes much better than store-bought since it has quality ingredients and comes out of the oven warm and fresh!  You can have a ninth of the pan for 230 calories, which isn’t bad at all since a ninth of the pan is the size of my head (ok, not really because I have an abnormally large head, but it is a big slice, so you don’t feel like you’re being gipped like you would if you tried to satisfy your craving with a little 1 point Weight Watcher gingerbread cookie, just sayin’!).

Case in point:

Alright guys, wish me luck.  I’ve got 8 pages down on one paper and 7 more pages to go before I begin my next paper.  All this term paper stuff is really putting a damper on my holiday spirit! bah!  For all you cool kids who actually get to enjoy this time of year, what are you up to?  What are your plans for the season? Who wants to come visit me and remind me there is life outside my bubble?

<3, The Cranky One

p.s. If you’re sick like me, you’ll find Alternet’s list of Top 6 Weirdest, Scariest Processed Foods fascinating!

Tags: stocking stuffers, Sweet Riot, trader joes