Why are Mondays so hard? And do they really have to be? We asked five smart, successful women to share how they make the first day of the week just a little bit easier. Here are five smart pieces of advice from an actress, an author, a chemist, a philanthropist, and a budding surgeon.

<p><a href=’http://www.thekitchn.com/5-tips-from-smart-successful-women-on-making-monday-better-234782′><strong>READ MORE »</strong></a></p>

All cutting boards are created equal, right? And you can cut anything on any kind? Unfortunately, no. Cutting boards come in all shapes and sizes and, while you don’t need to have all of them to have a well-stocked kitchen, it’s important to know exactly which you should invest in for which purpose.

The short answer: you should have one cutting board for raw meat and one for everything else.

<p><a href=’http://www.thekitchn.com/the-best-cutting-board-for-raw-meat-235223′><strong>READ MORE »</strong></a></p>

This is the very definition of a #miraclemeal: beef and veggie kabobs that go straight from freezer to grill.

These absolutely delicious family favorites are made with affordable beef sirloin that is coated with a spice rub, and threaded onto skewers along with veggies. The whole kabob is frozen, skewers and all, so you can make these two at a time or 10 at a time. The best part is you don’t even need to thaw them; when you’re ready to cook just fire up the grill!

<p><a href=’http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-freezer-to-grill-steak-and-vegetable-kebabs-236416′><strong>READ MORE »</strong></a></p>

Chase Stout and his girlfriend, Kenzie Jones, recently adopted a kitten on September 4, which they named Mr. Wilson. They had previously adopted a German Shepard, Huey, and apparently the dog and baby kitten were already becoming best friends. Recently, Jones left the pair with her boyfriend to go on a short trip and was concerned about Stout feeding the kitten enough. He proved her wrong.

<p><a href=’http://www.thekitchn.com/this-man-made-tiny-pancakes-for-his-adorable-kitten-236920′><strong>READ MORE »</strong></a></p>

Look, I realize that the title alone of this story is going to roll some eyes because chicken nuggets are often dismissed as kid’s food, not worthy of the time of day for serious home cooks. But we all have those nights when we need to get dinner done, despite really wanting to just order pizza. So we reach for the box of frozen nuggets and tear through the pantry in the hope of turning an otherwise boring box of chicken into a miracle meal. Here are 11 quick ideas for just such an occasion.

<p><a href=’http://www.thekitchn.com/11-ways-to-turn-frozen-nuggets-into-dinner-235246′><strong>READ MORE »</strong></a></p>

Now that we’ve convinced you that there’s no need to go all Martha for your dinner guests, allow us to introduce you to Trader Joe’s frozen, store-bought appetizers. There are some great options out there that need nothing more than a short spin through the oven, which means you can focus on more important things like catching up with your friends.

But which are the best frozen appetizers? We tried 10 of Trader Joe’s most popular appetizers, and while there aren’t any particularly bad choices, some are definitely better than others.

Here are five frozen appetizers from Trader Joe’s that are a total win, and five that we’d skip.

<p><a href=’http://www.thekitchn.com/5-trader-joes-appetizers-to-make-for-your-holiday-party-and-5-to-pass-on-226355′><strong>READ MORE »</strong></a></p>

There are a ton of different Doritos flavors that have been created throughout the years. There are some good ones (Cool Ranch for life!) and some not-so-good ones. This latest chip, however, might be the most fascinating of them all. These black garlic Doritos that you see above are being sold exclusively in Japan for Halloween.

<p><a href=’http://www.thekitchn.com/we-need-to-talk-about-these-black-doritos-in-japan-236888′><strong>READ MORE »</strong></a></p>

Chicken nuggets in almost any form beyond homemade are a much-demonized convenience food. It’s difficult to call which presentation of convenience is more polarizing: the drive-thru chicken nuggets or the box of frozen chicken nuggets. Truthfully, I once held the same distain for both and swore up and down that my future kids would never eat mass-produced nuggets. Ah, how little we know about parenting before we are parents.

Life with two kids and two working parents has given me a heavy dose of reality. Now I realize that frozen nuggets can equate to an easy meal that all of my family will enjoy. We aren’t eating them every night (or even every week), but I wanted to be sure that when we did, the frozen nuggets were ones I could comfortably feed my family when I need to pull off a miracle meal.

<p><a href=’http://www.thekitchn.com/taste-test-frozen-chicken-nuggets-235247′><strong>READ MORE »</strong></a></p>

My office has witnessed The Case of the Missing Spaghetti, The Hidden Brown Rice, and most recently A Summertime Spring Roll Mystery. Clearly there’s an office lunch thief among us. And while I have my suspicions, I’ll leave cracking The Case of the Office Refrigerator to the professional sleuths.

Instead, with apologies to Nancy Drew, let’s focus on six proactive ways to make sure your lunch meets the right mouth.

<p><a href=’http://www.thekitchn.com/6-ways-to-thwart-the-office-lunch-thief-234755′><strong>READ MORE »</strong></a></p>