Go out on a quiet street and practice practice practice. Take your foot out and put it back in over and over.
For me, it helped to have a picture of it in my head: I try to flip the pedal with the tab when it's at around 6 o'clock. By the time the pedal is horizontal with the ground, I'm just about ready to push my foot into the clip and start the downstroke. Some pedals are easier than others. The MKS GR-9 pedals have a ginormous tab that makes it really easy to flip and get into the cages.
And yeah, leave one foot in -- the foot that you prefer to lead with (your "chocolate" foot).