This is me in college. Yes, I cooked even then. Not as much as I do now, but probably more than a lot of other students. And yes, I cooked in purple pants and heels. Lately I look a little less stylish, and a lot more “barefoot and pregnant.” I need to up my current steez!

I was vegan for a while and vegetarian for a while—I did a lot of diet experimentation at the time. I even convinced one of my boyfriends to go vegan with me. And I bought him a sprouting kit for Valentine’s Day. Ha! Just what he never wanted. ?

I remember making polenta for the first time and feeling really cool. And I remember eating lots of tofu, which I no longer eat. And although I never liked ramen or mac and cheese, I ate more sugar and processed food than I do now. But anyways, here’s proof I spent time in the kitchen, even then.

The point is, I’ve always liked cooking to some extent. But becoming a mom and feeding people all day long does get really  old sometimes. And the following steps have helped me to enjoy cooking:

Step #5 Wear a nice apron. Although it’s cute, the above pictured frilly, colorful apron is no longer my style. Now I want this one from Fog Linen. Or this one. And yes men, you too will look hot in an apron. Something like this. Or this. You see what I mean? Yes? No?

Step #4 Meal plan at the beginning of the week. I usually meal plan and make a grocery list every week. If I’m really good I’ll do it for two weeks. But with how much fresh produce I buy, I need to shop every week anyway.

Step #3 Do any possible dinner prep after breakfast in the morning. Knowing what’s for dinner and having some prep already underway when 5:00 rolls around is a huge relief!

Step #2 Have someone else do the dishes. ’nuff said.

Step #1 Dance to your favorite tunes the entire time! Check out my Two Thirds Cup playlist on Spotify. Go to my Two Thirds Cup Facebook page to get the link. This playlist is what I currently listen to while making dinner. We can dance to the same tunes while chopping veggies. Only we won’t be together. Which is disappointing. We need to work on that!

I think Step #1, dancing to my favorite tunes, is the only step I accomplish every single time I make dinner. Which is good since it’s the most important step! But whenever I do the majority of these tips, I end up really enjoying dinner planning and prep.

Do you like making dinner? What do you do to make it fun?