Mindy Kaling has 'newfound respect for stay-at-home moms' while quarantining with her toddler

Mindy Kaling is adjusting just fine to life in quarantine.

In fact, she's thriving. When we call her up to talk about "Never Have I Ever," a new Netflix comedy (streaming April 27) that's inspired by her teenage years, the quick-witted writer/actress is in the midst of making a brisket.

"I know; I was impressed myself," Kaling says excitedly. “It’s very unlike me, but I’m doing a ton of cooking because I’m at home all day."

More: Mindy Kaling opens up about early 'Office' struggles, unplanned motherhood

Part of the fun has been testing out recipes on her 2-year-old daughter, Katherine (or "Kit"), who is "a really picky eater, so there's something uniquely gratifying about finding things for her to eat," Kaling says. They recently had a taco night, "and she loved that she could just jam her hands in different toppings and put them on. That was a big hit."

But "The Office" veteran insists she's no Ina Garten.

"A lot of the cooking is bad," Kaling says. "That's the nice thing about (toddlers): She can't really tell good food from bad food, so it's not like I'm cooking these gourmet feasts that always succeed."

Kaling, 40, gave birth in December 2017, a month after her Hulu comedy "The Mindy Project" ended its six-season run on Fox and Hulu. Since then, she's been working nonstop: writing and starring in last year's "Late Night" with Emma Thompson, as well as co-creating and producing "Never Have I Ever" and two other TV shows, "Champions" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral."

Despite the frightening realities of the coronavirus pandemic, Kaling sees isolation as a chance to spend more time with her daughter.

"I don't normally get to have this experience of being a stay-at-home mom," Kaling says. "I did my maternity leave, but my baby was so small that it wasn't like she had a personality. It’s like, I get to redo my maternity leave, but she's 2 and she talks and I can hang out with her. And I'm not, like, recovering from delivering a baby and I don't have to breastfeed. I've been thinking of it as the maternity leave that I wanted," she continues. "So I'm doing a lot of cooking and being domestic, which is something I don't really get to do."

More: Mindy Kaling won't talk about daughter's father, but opens up on finding her maternal instinct

Kaling acknowledges that unlike most single parents, she's lucky to have a nanny who helps out. And keeping her daughter entertained around the clock isn't always easy.

"There's a photo my nanny took of me where I'm hiding in the curtains," Kaling says with a laugh. "There’s a game I play with Kit where I hide in the curtains, but (my nanny's) joke about me is that I'm hiding in the curtains for like, an hour a day. Because it's very fun, but it's also exhausting. I really have such a newfound respect for stay-at-home moms because kids are relentless. So it's been very challenging, too."

Working from home, on the other hand, hasn't been a major adjustment.

"For a lot of people, this lifestyle is very different than what their regular life is like," Kaling says. "And yeah, there's some things I did (before) – like I would go to more events and do more on-camera stuff – but (as a writer), it's not that different from my normal life when I'm not in production on a show. I spend four to five hours a day writing from home on different shows, then I do my at-home Peloton workout. So there are some things where I've been actually more productive than I normally am, because now everybody's (working from home) and now I have a feeling of competition with them."

Check back later this month for USA TODAY's full interview with Kaling about "Never Have I Ever."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mindy Kaling is excited to 'redo my maternity leave' during quarantine