It’s more accessible now than ever to purchase meat ethically. But with that, comes a slew of confusing terms and labels: hormone-free, certified humane, free range, the list goes on.

Therein lies several questions and the biggest one of all: where do I start?

One of the easiest ways to discern if a meat product is cruelty-free is by looking out for the Certified Humane logo.

Not long ago, Mateo turned 6 months old, so I thought to myself, what better way to spoil him than with a tasty treat?

I scoured the interwebs for some gourmet cat food recipe ideas, and did some research on home cooking for cats, before concluding that meatballs were the most nutritional and convenient option.

So you’ve made the brilliant yet unfortunate mistake of trying fresh pasta. Because now, you’re addicted, and you can’t go back to the boxed stuff.

If you’re anything like me, you would’ve foreseen your fresh pasta stock running low within a matter of weeks and scoured the internet for homemade pasta tutorials, eagerly hoping to make some of your own. But as you watch more tutorials, your heart sinks, learning that most recipes call for some sort of pasta maker.

You battle with your mind for a second, debating if it’s worth the extra $60 at all. Eventually, you nearly abandon the idea, when suddenly it strikes you – what if I try rolling it out on my own?

1. Clean as you go

I’m fairly certain that I have the same issue as everyone else, whereby I cook up a storm – think chicken pot pie with a side of crispy cheesy garlic bread, and all the works. But what I’m left with is, as they say, worse than the storm itself; a mountain-high pile of dirty dishes in the sink, a greasy air-fryer, and a stain-filled stovetop, all of which are simply yelling, “THIS IS TOO MUCH HARD WORK!”

So believe me when I say that I. feel. you. Doing the dishes has and never will be on my list of “chores I’m surprisingly okay with”.

Recently, though, I adopted the age-old “clean as you go” technique, and I have to admit that glancing over at the empty kitchen sink, just as I’m about to finish cooking my three-course dinner, is beyond satisfying.