Whew! What a busy week at work this week.  That snow day on Wednesday made for the end of the week to come in at a hectic pace and I couldn’t be happier.  It’s so much fun to be busy again.

That snow day–huh?  This was Thursday morning on my way to work. Beautiful but out-of-season!

And that means a lazy weekend.  There’s nothing planned and nowhere to go and weekends like that can be welcomed!

Anyway, it was brought to my attention yesterday that we were running low on the gougères that are on steady supply in the freezer.  I instructed Bonaparte to get to the store for Jarlsberg cheese (even though the recipe calls for Gruyère) and this morning I got to work.

While I realize that I’ve written about these little nuggets of delight many times in this blog, I can’t say enough about the greatness of them. To make them from start to finish takes about an hour and you can get thirty gougères out of the recipe.  But time and time again, the recipe never fails!  In all honesty, it’s the lazy woman’s way to a great hor d-oeuvres. After they are baked, allow them to cool down completely, put them in an air-tight plastic bag and store in the freezer.  Take out as you need them and reheat at 350.  It is in my go-to’s of recipes. Alain Ducasse Gougeres Recipe

My supply had diminished to four gougères –something had to be done!

I went to work early this morning. Before and after.  Little nuggets of choux pastry morphing into a great appetizer!

Before I continue, I’m gonna come clean with you. I knew that I gained weight. It shows in my face and my stomach and thighs. It is something I’m not thrilled or proud about because my lack of willpower took over. After I lost my job in September and was home, I took my frustrations out with food.  Then the holidays came and it was even more difficult.  It’s enjoyable to feast with my kids. What can I say?

And all this time I was petrified to step on a scale.  But I did it.  I had to face the truth before my sucking up food as though I were a Hoover vacuum got any worse.  I did gain weight but it wasn’t as bad as I thought.  I gained 13 pounds.  I’m at 153.  Immediately, I went to my dresser, pulled out a thin pair of Capri leggings and a white tee shirt.  This will be my “uniform” when I return to Weight Watchers on Monday evening after work.

The decision to return to Weight Watchers has nothing to do with the new Freestyle program.  It sounds too permissive for me and I like boundaries and rules. I need to go back for the meetings. I need to be with people who have a connection with weight issues.  And, I need the structure of a weekly weigh-in.  I need to be accountable.  Besides, if the Freestyle program isn’t my thing, I can always go back to Smart Points.

Speaking of Weight Watchers, I found a recipe for a 3-point, two ingredient bagels.  This recipe has been pretty popular and some of my friends have been very successful at baking these.  So, after the gougères were made, I went to work and made a batch of four.

Here’s the recipe  Weight Watchers Two Ingredient Bagels from Mess For Less — but I changed it up a bit. I didn’t have self-rising flour in the house and wasn’t going to go out to buy some. Instead I added baking powder and salt to all-purpose flour.  I didn’t even measure. I eyeballed and threw it in.  Then sifted.  And the Greek fat-free yogurt?  Well, I sort of had some in the fridge.  I made Tzatziki a while ago (like a month ago) and what was added to the Greek Fat-free yogurt was dill, lemon juice and grated cucumber—all zero points.  So, I used it instead of the plain because I wasn’t going to go out to buy more yogurt.

Ready for the oven! Who knew making bagels could be this easy?  I’m also thrilled that Tray Joe’s has a great blend of flavor to sprinkle on these babies!

I also changed things up a bit by being lazy.  The recipe calls for rolling out the “dough” to resemble a rope, then to make the two ends meet and pinch them for a bagel shape.  I did that with one and it was too much work for me.  Instead I poked a hole in the middle of the “ball” of dough and flattened it out some.

The funny thing is that yesterday I stopped off at Trader Joe’s. I needed vanilla and saw this “Everything But The Bagel” and purchased it.  And guess what??? It’s recommended for the recipe.

The bagels turned out great!  No yeast.  Just the flour and yogurt.  And the serving of three points is not bad at all!

The finished product!  I’m telling you, these “bagels” are really very good!!! And moist!!!

Next was preparing the snails for tonight’s escargot.  Hey, I’m going to Weight Watchers on Monday—don’t judge—think of it as I’m a criminal and I’m eating my last meal.  My crime was abusing food and my “punishment” will be going back to eating smaller portions!!!

My little snails!  OMG. They were so great!

Finally—at around noon I got dressed.  I filmed a video for my YouTube channel. This wasn’t a review but was a bit of a rant about body shaming and mean girls growing up to be mean women. Here’s the link if you would like to see what I have to say.

Mean Girls Grow Up To Be Mean Women–Stop Body Shaming and Be Inclusive

It would be awesome if you subscribed to my channel—I need subbies!

A few errands—I had to go to the wig store to buy wig hairspray.  You are not supposed to use regular hairspray on synthetic wigs.  I just found this out from watching wig videos!  I also needed a couple of new wig caps.

Then a stop at Ulta—I’ll be showing you what I purchased in tomorrow’s post, and lo and behold it happened again. I wore Justine today.  Justine is by It’s A Wig. The color, TT3147 is a light brown with golden blonde highlights. It’s a very pretty color and every time I wear this wig, someone always approaches me to ask where I had my hair styled and what color is my hair.  When I say it’s a wig (by It’s A Wig) they are blown away.

Justine–from “It’s A Wig”  I am amazed at the amount of women who approach me about my “hair”..

 

This is THE wig that strangers always stop me to compliment me on my “hair”.  I love the reactions to the fact I’m wearing a wig!  It’s great and awesome and wonderful!

Today I had a twenty-minute conversation with two women about this unit.  It’s my mission to normalize wigs.  I told them how wigs are just so much easier. No fussing with hair. No damaging from dye jobs, no worries about the weather and they are great vacation and travel accessories because less time spent on hair means more time enjoying the sites!

Luckily, my clothing is still fitting—albeit a bit tight but nonetheless still fitting.  Wednesday’s snow day brought about me in pj’s all day and only putting on outerwear and boots to shove the snow.  But-it was a very casual work week.  Here’s a sampling of what I wore!

Friday was super casual. Jeans. Sneakers. An L.A. tee from J. Crew and a blazer to pull it all together!

Thursday. The return from the snow.  Boots from Unisa. I think I paid around $39.99 for these in 2016!  An old-as-the-hills sweater from Old Navy and my Jamison wig from Estetica designs pulled the look together!

Tuesday was the unveiling of this J. Crew Factory Pink Flamingo tee. I love this.  Shorter hair is more longer-life friendly for wigs. I’m so in love with Isla from Tony of Beverly!

Monday had me in my Violet wig from Estetica, a black Tippi Sweater (and I wore black pants) and a J. Crew red/orange schoolboy blazer!

It made me feel good!  And that was that.  I’m off to start prepping for dinner.

Here’s a very pretty song for you. Comme Un Bateau from Indila. She’s a French singer and our friend and fellow blog reader and blogger June of Fancying France turned me on to Indila!