Clean as you go, makes the mess more manageable.

If cleaning is a big barrier, maybe sheet pan meals (using parchment!) would make it easier.

If veggie prep/meat prep is an issue - buy pre-seasoned thighs/roasts, or already chopped or even frozen veggies.

For general inspiration and getting into the swing of things, maybe try one of the meal prep subscriptions for a couple weeks? You can order not a couple meals a week so it’s not too onerous.

Clean as you cook.

Clean as much as possible before you sit down to eat, clean your dishes as soon as you finish eating

Do the time consuming prep a day or 5 before

One pot wonders. Learn to make stews, gravies, soups.

You can prep them before hand, throw everything in the pot, set to simmer and leave it for a few hours

Blast some music on the headphones.🫠

Mise en place helps with prep for me. Having everything set up and organized. Also, proper knife skills. Learning how to properly chop things can cut your time in more than half.

If that’s still too much, you cut buy some vegetables pre chopped at the grocery store, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, mushrooms, etc.

Cleaning as you go helps and lot and you don’t feel overwhelmed. Sheet pan dinners can cut down on dishes.

Music is a must (for me)- cooking or clean up afterwards.

Clean while you cook

Try one pot meals or sheet pan meals in the oven

Meals prep so you only have to cook once for food that lasts multiple days. Also prep and freeze ingredients.

Cook while listening to music and freestyle dancing around the kitchen (or listening to podcasts, audiobooks, etc whatever floats your boat), cook things that taste better homemade so you’re not as tempted to order out, plan out your steps before you start so you’re being efficient in not using unnecessary dishes/utensils etc and mostly cleaning as you go instead of being left with a large pile to clean up after (gets easier with experience in how long different cooking steps take), cooking in bulk large batches and freezing/storing for later so you don’t have to cook every meal and build up a variety of homemade meals ready to eat (also can bulk cook/prep large batches of ingredients/components to use across multiple dishes e.g. beans, meat, roasted vegetables etc so it’s faster and easier when you cook an individual dish), use shortcut partially pre-prepped ingredients like frozen vegetables and canned ingredients, if you have a microwave there’s also a fair amount of dishes you can make as long as they contain some liquid that are nearly as good as cooking on a stovetop and much faster

Have someone to cook for.

I am disabled and it takes me at least twice as long to do anything I used to do, including cooking. So I now use more shortcuts primarily by using some prepared ingredients for either the dish I am preparing or as a side dish. For example I like mashed potatoes and pasta dishes, but I cannot really handle pots of hot water anymore after having burned myself pretty badly in a failed attempt to move one from stove to sink. So I buy prepared mashed potatoes to serve with whatever protein I am cooking, and fresh store-bought pastas I can prepare either directly in a skillet of sauce or in smaller cooking vessels.

Here is my suggestion:

Pick out some dishes that you like to order out that don't seem overly complicated. Look on the internet or you tube to find recipes for the dish.

You might start by buying some prepared ingredients that might take excessive time or be messy. For example you can buy diced onions, peppers or the like in most supermarkets, along with washed packages of leafy greens like spinach, arugula and lettuce, and other vegetables like celery and carrots cleaned, peeled and sometimes even chopped, shredded cheese, and animal proteins that are precut and deboned or fileted. If you choose to save the money and maximize flavor, freshness and texture by cleaning, peeling and chopping yourself, get a good sharp chefs knife, peeler, grater and cutting board to make produce and protein prep easier. You could get a food processor to do some of this, but honestly, for me they are just more things to clean. Since I dont cook for a lot of people anymore, I am back to relying on a good knife.

Consider looking into a slow cooker to try some one pot meals if you are into soups, stews, chilis, slow braised meats like short ribs or pot roast (although the latter does usually benefit from pan searing and carmelizing before slow cooking--so that might be a lot to start out.) But generally speaking they save you the stirring and monitoring, and leave you just one pot, lid and serving spoon to clean after the food is done.

Definitely start with a clean kitchen and try to clean as you go. It also helps to get everything prepped before you start, veggies cut, everything out and lined up. Gives you more time to wash things in between stirring.

I also always have music or a show on

Maybe pick a meal you love to eat out, and try to make it yourself. It's always fun for me to try to replicate a dish.

I like getting a little high before cooking

I was like you well into my 40s.

Finally I realized I needed to change my attitude and starting saying I cook as a hobby.

As for clean-up, when I am done there's rarely more than the pan I cooked in. Clean as you go. Practice mise en place.

Make it a challenge instead of a chore.

Sheet pan meals on foil or parchment paper lined pan.

One pan skillet meals

Crock pot recipes

All the above are minimal clean up and have lots of variety.

Second the suggestion for recipe boxes. Ive done that in the past, it was a great way to feel like my hand was held through the process, then I saved the recipe cards for the ones I really liked and shopped for the ingredients at the store the next time I wanted it.

depending on the meals, you can save time and effort by using pre-prepped ingredients. a bag of frozen broccoli is good enough, a jar of minced garlic is good enough. 

as for how I enjoy it? I watched cooking shows that made it seem fun and gave me ideas to try. 

That's rough...

My parents aren't great cooks either, and I struggle to enjoy food sometimes too.

I just wanna say that what you feel towards cooking is okay, especially if it feels not okay.

First step is to re-train yourself to enjoy, even a little bit, to just be in the kitchen. Start simple and small. Even down to just buttered toast if you have to.

Most of cooking is personal preference. Learn how to shop for groceries and enjoy having fresh food in your kitchen. Shop on a budget at the start, so if you mess up, it doesnt hurt your wallet.

My advice is to start making Stock from scratch. You learn how to use the scraps from better pieces of food, it teaches you how to peel and dice veggies, how to aquire meat bones or how to make veggie stock. Stock is literally just flavored water, it elevates the flavors of what you cook, and you can freeze it for a long time.

Cook with wine and music

I play music that would match the mood of what I’m making. Finding seasonal foods and planning a menu for the week is how I enjoy cooking. Also clean as you go. Cooking for others also makes it more fun.

enjoy cold beer

I don't look to "enjoy" the cooking as much as I do the outcome - the eating. The desire to eat good food is also what led to my learning to cook. My mother didn't like to cook, didn't put much effort in to it, and the results showed. I took over the dinner prep the last couple years I lived at home. My kid brother became a better than adequate cook after I married and moved out, for the same reason - he liked to eat good food and it wasn't coming his way if he didn't make it himself.

Make something you are actually looking forward to eating. If you dont like it, whats the point in making it?

Also, as much as it sucks, make sure uou have EVERYTHING prepped before you start. All spices measured, all veggies cut, ect. It makes the actual cooking less stressful.

I personally am marrying a guy who doesnt mind the chopping bit, but hates the actual cooking bit, while I hate the chopping bit, but dont mind the actual cooking bit. That way neither of us are unhappy, but the task still gets done!

Get good at it.

It's an art and a craft. The more you learn and practice, the more fulfillment you'll take from it.

I learned a ton from YouTube, it's really outstanding how much good information there is out there. 

https://youtu.be/L-LDAOWb2Ng

Some cuisines tend to be quick once the prep is done, but the prep is extensive and to some people can be a pain in the butt. So avoid such cuisines, such as Asian, unless you get to the point where you consider chopping and organizing to be meditative. Sometimes, I just get in the mood to chop ingredients and store them away and then cook them later, which saves time.

In professional school, they teach you a few key points. If you need boiling water, get it going before you continue so it can get hot while you are doing something else. Have sharp knives, as they are safer and more pleasant to use. Empty the dishwasher before you create more mess and clean as you go. By the time you are ready to sit down, most of the cleaning is already done. My dad was a good cook, but he destroyed the kitchen every time and it was overwhelming to see everything piled up! And we didn't grow up with a dishwasher - we siblings took turns and it was awful! If you live with somebody, take turns cleaning up while one is cooking and that helps too.

The other thing that could help is if you could erase the memory of your mom's criticism by either watching and helping a good cook who could be more encouraging (another relative? a friend?) or take a few simple cooking workshops for a nicer experience.

Good luck!

I prep ahead if I can. For example I’m making broccoli cheddar soup tomorrow but had some time to grate the cheese today and throw them in zip lock baggies

Cook crockpot meals and freeze in portions. If you use beef, brown it first and saute onions.

Start this process by making simple dishes that you can accentuate with add ins, pasta , rice and instant noodles all come to mind. This way you can minimize complexity and keep the dishes involved to two, a cooking vessel and a bowl to serve in. For add ins start with dried herbs, then move to things like cheese and veggies, for veg I recommend frozen veg if possible because it reduces the required planning involved.

Crock pot food is pretty low prep. Goi cuon is also pretty easy, you just have to precook protein and blanch noodles

Make stuff that you are excited to make. Watch some YouTube videos to get ideas. It’s like work when you are slogging through something you don’t really want to be doing.

Supportive house shoes and/or mats have helped me a lot

What do you like to eat? Maybe learn to make one or two dishes you already enjoy. Pasta is pretty versatile with little clean up. Maybe try making a bolognese or a carbonara? You might try watching a cooking show-- many ppl find them inspiring.

Get an instant pot and a soup mould. You just need to chop vegie and protein, throw it in, and press a button. Clean up involves 1 chopping board, 1 knife, the pot and your bowl. Freeze left over in the soup mould. You'll have food for multiple days. 

If you're extra lazy you can buy frozen vegie that's already cut and meat thats also already cut. Then you'll just have the instant pot and your bowl to wash. 

If you ever feel like level up your skill, you can bake your own bread. Otherwise just buy store bought or eat with rice. 

Since I love foods with ginger and garlic, I bought garlic that was cleaned and the same amount of garlic. I chopped it in the food processor. A portion of the garlic I stored separately and the rest I blended with the chopped ginger. I put it in zip lock bags and patted it flat, then scored it into even squares of ~1 Tablespoon. Froze it flat. My ginger and garlic is ready to go when ever I want a stir fry. My garlic is ready if I want to make a vinaigrette.

I love it this way. I don't have to deal with the stickiness of garlic which I find annoying.

When you have tasks that feel hard, do them first thing in the day when you have all your energy, mental and physical.

Music? Like, enjoy it, don't think of it as a chore. You're doing something special for yourself!

I grew up with a mom who was a good cook, but didn’t have the patience to teach me and she always criticized my food to the point that I lost interest and my confidence in my cooking skills.

Sounds like there's some shame to deprogram. Remind yourself that you aren't cooking for her approval. You struggled as a child because you didn't have a good teacher, and that isn't your fault.

Cook for yourself.

Clean as you go - I find I function better in a clean kitchen. Sometimes I can’t even make myself cook if my kitchen is messy. I set out all my non-perishable ingredients and tools or cooking equipment needed first. I do a lot of 5 ingredient crockpot recipes - specifically 5 ingredient white chicken chili and sausage tortellini soup. I also do a lot of air fryer things. Give it a try - Good luck!!

Instead of thinking of it as an unavoidable chore you have to do, think about it as your craft hobby that you do to de-stress at the end of your day. It's genuinely relaxing chopping a few veggies and sizzling things in the pan, it's interesting, and an astonishing array of results can come from putting together this ingredient with that ingredient, and they don't need to be fancy. It's a very cool way to take your mind off other things, focusing on just this task for a bit. You just get better and better at it, quite quickly, so before you know where you are you can throw amazing dishes together - and they absolutely don't have to be complex or 'fancy'.

For me I had to learn to love cooking for my family. I still have times weren't find it mundane

Mise en place. Plan for leftovers so you’re cooking a big batch and making the effort worth it. Make shit you’re craving and make it exactly the way you want it. It takes practice but kinda becomes addicting once you know you can make whatever you want. And so many foods taste better the next day. A glass of wine or beer while cooking is even better.

Mise en place and clean as you go.

Also, make an effort to shift your mindset towards it and try to make it relaxing.

Turn on some music or a podcast or a show, have a bit of alcohol if you're into that, treat it as an activity!

I try to romanticize it and make it “fun”. That means music and a glass of wine. I try to not feel rushed and panicked bc that is what I don’t like about it. Mostly this involves reading the entire recipe and preparing almost everything before beginning cooking. Also, I don’t do anything that requires more than two pans on the stove because that would be too much. I also think it’s reasonable to just make crockpot/instant pot/casserole meals. Or cook with shortcuts, I recently made a chicken pot pie, and I bought the crust from the store and the mirepoix already chopped, without those I would have struggled. I also live alone so if I have too big of a mess at the end, I clean it the next day no big deal. And I try to make the same recipes I really like multiple times, for awhile I was choosing a new recipe each week when cooking something you feel confident in takes practice, so master what you will use. Basically I minimize the unpleasant parts that cause me to find it unbearable.

Perfect one thing at a time. Learn how to make rice or pasta or potatoes. Then move on to cooking a veggie or two. Then sort out eggs, tofu, red meat, fish.

Ain’t no shame in using frozen food and zhuzhing it up.

I like nom nom paleo’s recipes bc they aren’t too fussy. Same with the website Simply Recipes.

Things about cooking: try mise en place, clean as you go. Learn how to use your knives. Even if I’m tired and don’t wash everything I like to leave the counters clean and ready for the next time. Get an oven thermometer and a meat thermometer for accuracy.

Those meal kits like blue apron might be helpful to get you started.

I find that I like cooking with other people.

I hate cooking by mself. Tried watching cooking shows. Tried listening to music which worked the best but still not great. Tried listenng to podcasts. Maybe try watching tv while you cook. I haven't tried that one yet.

The only time I honestly enjoy it is when I am doing it with another person. I used to cook with my grandmother though unfortunately she passed away. Occasionally I cook with my stepdad but not often. I absolutely love cooking with my kids.

Take your time and enjoy the process

It's worth my extra effort when I've made something great that makes other people happy.

Ad others have said, plan meals so you can use as little cookware as possible and clean as you go. Look up "one pan meals."

Put on a podcast, add a glass of wine.

Learn about investing and compounding and you will WANT to learn to cook. It tastes better and you can retire early

I use the NY Times cooking ap. Save recipes I want to try. Read the comments as they offer great recommendation…what to avoid. I add notes and rank the recipes and it makes cooking more interesting and fun. As a subscriber to the NY Times it feeds me things to try and check out. Cocktails to deserts to sides to main courses.

It’s all about practice. When I first moved out and had to cook for myself prep took me an hour. At this point most things I cook are done 45 minutes after I start prepping.

You get faster but you also learn what you can do at the same time. By the time I’m done cooking there is very little left to clean in most cases because I know X has to simmer for 5 minutes, I can wash 2 things. Y doesn’t need to be done until 15 minutes in my cook and I’ll age down time to prep it I can start and do this while it cooks.

Start with something that you will enjoy eating.

I love to cook and I'm not above making a huge mess and leaving clean up for the next day.

However, I also love one pot meals (or sheet pan dinners).

We like big flavors! If a recipe has onions, garlic, cilantro and lime - I'm going to like it.

I HATE cooking. My favorite ways to do it are sheet pan m, slow cooker or Instant pot. Seriously, the faster,the better. I bought something to cut vegetables, and I am so happy.

Put on music, light a candle. Prep earlier. This morning for instance I should’ve probably cut up the onion for dinner because I was working late. I didn’t, but it would’ve saved me a couple dishes and 10 minutes of time to chop my veggies earlier

I buy a lot of components and ingredients pre-prepped. Chopped vegetables, jarred sauces, frozen foods, etc. It’s still cheaper and more environmentally friendly than ordering takeout.

You can't.

Try to simplify on dishes that you really like, that's all.

Honestly, fake it till you make it. Either buy pre cut produce or get a meal kit delivery 📦 for a week or two a month to get the hang of putting a recipe together , start to finish. without the guesswork. Then you can tweak it to your liking ( more spice, herbs, etc).

Mise en place, clean as you go.

I try to figure out how to make the thing first and then find what foods lead into cooking other foods

I don't have to do much to make it enjoyable. I enjoy the process a great deal. Good quality tools help.

There is something I find deeply satisfying about a good meal coming together, especially if it's so good it becomes a common request. Service adds meaning to cooking for me.

Well when you get good at it you can eat better food than you can ever get going out….. at a fraction of the cost… with a healthier preparation…. And feed all the people you love who will love you for it.

I means there’s so much winning you’re going to be sick of winning.

Try a no cooking diet. I lived for nearly a year on mostly cold cuts, cheese, veg and fruit plates. I felt great

start out with the simple stuff, hash browns are cheap to practice, rinse the potatoes and get a lid. 10min then flip cook on low, give it a 30 second burst of the high heat once at the beginning with the lid on.

rice , washed with water, cooked on the simmer flame not boiling, instead of water use half beef broth or add some chicken bouillon.

burgers, keep it simple salt and pepper mixed in with the meat, 2 in wide ball almost toss four of them into a 1 gallon Ziploc bag and close it most of the way and then flatten them with the plate, put that in the freezer, that way it's fast. you got this and you will do a good job sure the first one won't turn out perfect,

cookies the the Nestle recipe, except use half the butter, my favorite is to substitute instead of all white sugar pour in some honey and molasses into the measuring cup it makes them much more forgiving they won't burn easily cook 10 minutes at 335F°

Nothing, i just enjoy cooking

I prep while watching youtube or tv-show/movie so it's just having fun while keeping my hands busy.

Not to mention i enjoy cutting and dicing and putting things into containers so that's 2 fun things at the same time

I clean while i cook so there is nothing to do after i'm done, just sit down and eat after portioning the rest

So yeah in short i don't see prepping as a part of cooking, it's during my hobby time. And cleaning only takes minutes so it's hard to notice

I’m a big proponent of having a plan. I plan a menu and make sure I have everything I need for the week. I know before I leave for work in the morning what the dinner plan is. It makes it so much less stressful.

Focus on learning to overcome what you hate most first everything after will seem less of an issue. I’m speaking from experience.

I’ve been cooking since I was a kid I’m 59. My father showed me all the basics. You can bump the feelings and compassion from others.

If you hate preparing everything ahead of time focus on that explore it make it your new favorite!

Just know everything you want to try from anywhere in the world is in yourself to cook to mimic.

Make something simple that you know you'll enjoy huffton, like spaghetti sauce? That only takes one pan. (Maybe two for Browning meat and sauteing the onions/veggies) And if you use a crock-Pot, you won't have to worry about stirring it all the time. Your reward is a ton of delicious food pre-made, All you have to do is boil some pasta later, pull some sauce out of the freezer and dinner is ready. 

Or make a real simple soup or stew with some chicken legs or bone in meat, Or just soup bones, Even sausages. Roughly chopped onions, celery and carrots Go in first , then meat, once that simmers a while add whatever else you wanted in your soup. If you taste as you go, it'll be pretty good. 

My parents were great cooks. But I became vegan so their cooking skills haven’t been of much help to me and I’ve had to become a good cook on my own.

I use my cutting board all the time, so to ensure that’s easy, I bought a thinner one that is a solid piece of wood—I have no idea why people buy ones made out wood pieces glued together—you have to be extra careful with those so they don’t split—with a handle that has a large hole in it. I then screwed in a hook over my sink in the ceiling so after washing I just hook my board onto it so it dries over the sink—honestly not willing to wipe it down after each use or search for vacancy on the drying rack.

I primarily just use one knife that I love. Using tools you actually like makes a big difference. My spouse used to use a slap-chop and because I loathed its cacophonous noise so much I tossed it and will chop everything by hand.

Listen to podcasts or tv shows.

Make the same things on a daily basis for at least 2/3 meals to avoid decision fatigue. Ex/ every morning I have a spicy green smoothie. I don’t love green smoothies at all but this way I am going to get spinach/kale/chard in and I don’t have to care about that the rest of the day. I have a savory, not a sweet tooth so to counteract the frozen mango in there I toss in garlic/ginger/jalapeño. The spice makes the smoothie tolerable for me to have every day. This is pretty specific, which I’m mentioning to point out that finding something you can manage to eat every day, even if it’s a bit different might take some time but in the long term will make you happier because if you don’t like what you’re eating enough then it’s right back to the decision-fatigue white board.

Save your yummiest meal of the day for the meal time that you are usually the most burnt out.

Keep your tools and kitchen goods as minimal as you can handle. Clutter in your kitchen is not your friend. I’m currently trying to talk spouse into letting go of the food processor as they use it, but then because they’re terrible at cleaning as they go it’s always just wasting space in the sink or drying rack until I have to reassemble and put back. These things seem small but they add up and make the everyday cooking experience more annoying for me.

Weirdest thing I’ve done is that I bought a mini fridge. I have children and a spouse. If I tell them to grab something for me they would just stand there, not moving anything and tell me they couldn’t find it. And my fridge would visually overwhelm me, leading me to want to scrap my plans and just eat junk which resulted in spoiled veg. Bought a mini fridge. Put all condiments, sauces, beverages in it. Now my fridge is just food and it’s way cleaner as it’s easier to clean. Kids actually see food. Good literally looks more appealing when it’s not crammed and I don’t forget we have it.

Edit: use websites or YouTube instead of cookbooks—the comments are very helpful.

Best of luck

Clean as you cook. Create a few stable dishes that you ‘specialize’ in and really like. Listen to music / podcast / series

I've only recently truly got into cooking and now cook multiple times a week. Before I would be lucky if I could make myself make 2 meals a week.

I got inspired after spending a week at a friend's cabin who is the most adorable Susan-homemaker type. She cooks 95% of her and her partners meals. Seriously they only eat out once or twice a month.

What inspired me was how she could go in the kitchen, see what she has on hand and make it work. One of my favorite recipes of hers this past summer was a Lemon Poppyseed dressing and cabbage Slaw salad and when she wrote down the recipe a few of the ingredients were so vague (for example, "use whatever herb you have on hand." The time I had it the herb was cilantro).

Since that trip I've been really trying to experiment with eating out of my pantry and deciding what to cook based on a what I have on-hand, and it's made cooking exciting.

I have come to really value the puzzle of using stuff up. Whether it’s freezing portions for lunch later. Or learning new uses for miso paste when I’m tired of soup. Or just coming up with my own recipe or finding a good all purpose use up like fried rice … I just like the game of avoiding waste. I also really just love so many recipe creators online. That has been a huge part of what got me going. My favorites are Cassie Yeung, Justine Doiron, Mississippi Kween, ithinkicancook, Ian Fujimoto and Your Barefoot Neighbor. But it’s such a personal taste thing. Still probably worth some browsing.

It’s an essential life skill, so quit putting your energy into resisting. Do all your prep work before you start cooking, clean as you go, and lean into the pleasure of rendering and seasoning everything exactly as you want it.

If you don't enjoy it, then cooking is a chore just like cleaning the bathroom. It has to be done, but no one expects to enjoy it. So go for efficiency.

I have a 3 stack pot. Two levels for steamed veggies and potatoes go in the pot. You can alternate the carb. Potatoes, rice(seasoned rice packets), noodles. Meat goes on the grill. Fish. Chicken. Burgers. Pork chops. Find a couple of casseroles you like, so you have leftovers. Freeze the leftovers for when you don't want to cook. Takeout. Rotate and repeat. That's your week.

If you not a foodie, you can take a lot of repetition. I try to make sure it's healthy.

Music and a glass of wine make it more fun. Clean as you go so you aren't left with a pile of cookware to wash after dinner.

You need to think of cooking as a fun craft you are learning not an onerous chore you have to do. I would hate cooking if I felt I had to do it, instead I get to cook almost every day.

I think there is a few things to unpack here...

•Prep:

Depends on what you mean. If slicing and dicing everything is to much you could try either buying frozen diced veggies or something like a slapchop... I don't often recommend the gadgets and gizmos (usually they are hard to clean, only work in small batches, etc) but if it makes cooking more bearable then it's a small price to pay.

•Cleaning:

I'd say clean as you go is the biggest thing. It's a hard habit to get into especially during cooking, but something that helps me is mise en place. Yes I may have two or three more dishes, but it creates an organised mess rather then just throwing everything in the sink and the sink looking crowed even though it only has 4 dishes in it.

•And maybe enjoyment.

Kind of hard I guess if your expectation was set by your mom and she had no teaching options, and would tear your food apart.

But a thing that helped my wife gain confidence was "simple" 5 ingrediant cookbooks. They are easier on the prep, and dishes, usually turn out pretty well all things considered. Some even stay as a normal rotation in the meal plans.

If I'm in a good mood to cook, sometimes I do a big prep day and treat it like a work in a restaurant! It can mean maybe 4 hours in the kitchen, but with tv on or an audio book or a good soundtrack, it can make my whole week so much easier. (Edit to say that I don't call this "meal prep" because I'm not making a bunch of the same meals for the whole week, I'm more prepping ingredients to cut down on cooking later on, but it could be considered meal prep).

Chopping veggies for dinner? Might as well chop all of them and freeze them for different uses throughout the week. This helps reduce the amount of time spent prepping and cleaning throughout the week. Some examples include freezing diced onions, carrots, and celery to then throw into a soup or pasta sauce. Others its slice onions and peppers for stir frys or fajitas. My favorite is onion, potato, and green peppers to prep for quiches.

Chop or prep fruit and veggies so that they're easy to pull out of the fridge and make a snack or girl dinner with! Carrots, apples, peppers, celery, berries etc.

This could also mean making a batch of muffins, bread, rice, or pasta in bulk for the week that I can again just pull out of the fridge and eat.

Cook with a partner. My husband is the better cook so I chop and clean as we go. We enjoy a glass of wine and each others company in the process.

Sunday prep and my freezer. I'm a vegetarian, so chopping vegetables is a constant. Running onions, carrots, garlic, in quantity, through a food processor and freezing in individually useful portions makes me hate prep a lot less.

I also often make a big pot of beans, of barley, of farro and freeze those in individual portions. Cooking is a lot easier when the steps are "toss a bag of frozen chopped onion, some frozen garlic, and frozen barley in a pan and add what I need to make it a meal"

And once you get in the habit of Sunday prep, you're just filling in, so it's not a huge undertaking to whizz a bag of onions through a food processor and portion it out.

Lower the bar. If you can assemble things to make a nice meal for yourself - go for that. Play music and just relax into it. You could also try more sheet pan meals that are the kind you put in the oven and set a timer.

I like to cook but one of the things that helps get me through bigger projects without getting bored is listening to podcasts. Maybe you could save special podcast/audio books/music/whatever you like just for cooking time so it gives you something to look forward to?

Plus, agree with the comments about cleaning as you go. I often try to empty the dishwasher if it's done, clean out the dish drain, do any lunch dishes, etc. before I start. And then if there's hands-off time during cooking I'll start on any dishes that I'm done with plus build in some extra time to clean at the end but before we eat. (It helps that my husband gets home late and hates when his food is too hot to eat, so I have plenty of time and it's ok if I let dinner sit for a while while I clean.) Ideally I only have the eating dishes and whatever pot/pan I served out of to clean after dinner.

The other things I find fun about it are finding new recipes/ingredients and getting to cook a big variety of things that I enjoy. But if that's stressful for you it's not that hard to find a rotation of flavorful, simple favorites and stick to those to eliminate stress. You can also use shortcuts like buying minced garlic or pre-chopped onions if there are specific prep tasks you hate.

It sounds like bulk meal prep might work for you if you're okay with eating the same thing several times a week. Get your mise en place prepared, cook large batches at once, put them in sealable containers, and clean up. For a few days after, you have meals that you just have to pop in the nuke and minimal dishes to do.

There is a plethora of ideas on YouTube for meal prep.

Simple recipes. Quick cooking time

Clean as you go. Dish up the food and immediately rinse the hot pan in hot water, dry and put it away. If you let dishes pile up in the sink you’ll regret it after dinner and may never want to cook again.

Experiment! 

Just following a recipe isn't very interesting or fun, but making a few tweaks and trying to notice the difference makes it a more engaging experience.

Marry (or be) rich.

Her criticizing your food was her way of teaching you. It's you that didn't have the patience to listen.