I did not have a fantastic Tuesday. It started out just fine, but by the end of the day, I was in a rather dour mood. Everything annoyed me – my skirt kept clinging to my tights in an irritating fashion; my office was cold and I was shivering; I had a headache… you know, typical #firstworldproblems. My life’s so tough, right?

I left work “early,” meaning “right around 5:00,” which meant I was caught in that post-work rush of people leaving campus, which meant I had to deal with traffic, which meant I became even more annoyed during my drive home. (Of course, my version of “traffic” means “more than five cars lined up waiting to turn,” so take that complaint with a large grain of salt.) Whilst waiting in “traffic,” I decided to take advantage of my otherwise-empty car by yelling colorful language quite loudly, and by the time I got home I felt slightly more chipper. However, the thought of making dinner did not appeal to me. Luckily, I had an easy out stored in my freezer: Gardein buffalo wings.

Generally, I’m fairly ambivalent about fake meat. I never crave it, but neither do I shun it completely. I enjoy it every once in a while as a novelty; I like variety in my diet. So when the buffalo wings were on sale at my co-op last week, I thought, why not? And on that bad-mood Tuesday, all I wanted was some sort of easy, tasty comfort food. Enter the wings.

Wingzorz!

I pan-fried these guys and served them up with the Pineapple Collards from Appetite for Reduction. These organic collards also came from the co-op; I found them in the “not-so-hot produce” bin and snatched them up for mere pennies (okay, a dollar or so). I love the co-op’s idea of not-so-hot produce – I also bought five organic green bell peppers for $1.19, and they had nary a scratch on them. Score! Anyway, I had some frozen pineapple, so I thought I’d try to conquer my aversion to sweetness in otherwise-savory dishes and trust Isa. I’m glad I did, too – these were actually really, really good! They had a bit of a kick to them from the red pepper flakes and the ginger, but the pineapple provided a smooth, sweet counterpoint.

And the wings? Well, they were so-so. I’ve also had Gardein’s crispy tenders, and I really liked those. But these wings were a little boring, a bit too squishy and flavorless for my taste (although the sauce was mighty spicy!). Still, this was exactly what I wanted for my bad-mood dinner. Served with a side of oat-bread toast, I had a comforting, filling, and mostly healthy dinner. And after eating, my bad mood was reduced by 47%, give or take. Maybe I was just hungry all along. :)

What foods do you crave when you’re in a bad mood? Any thoughts on Gardein?