Jenny Mollen is stunned that she has written a cookbook.
“I’m not a cook and that’s what I tell everyone,” the actress, 43, told Vidak For Congress in a new interview.
‘I am dyslexic, have anorexia and have followed a theater course. I’m left-handed, I’m a Gemini… I shouldn’t be in the kitchen!”
Mollen talked to us about her new cookbook, “Dictator Lunches,” which features recipes and suggestions for packing a fun and nutritious lunch box for kids.
Its origins came from Mollen’s @dictatorlunches Instagram account, where she would show followers what she made every day for her oldest son’s school lunch. She also revealed which ones he liked — and which ones he found inedible.
Mollen shares two sons, Sid, 8, and Lazlo, 4, with husband Jason Biggs.
“The book started as just me in my bathrobe, rummaging through the kitchen, through the fridge, wondering what to make for lunch the next morning. [for Sid],” she explained.
“And I realized early on that the power dynamics when I’m with him are so different than when I’m not there. So [school] lunch for me was just this perfect platform where I could really challenge him in a way. [Whereas] at home he just throws it in my face or refuses to eat.”
The author of “City of Likes” promises that her recipes are not difficult.
“If I can do this, so can you,” she told us. “It’ll only take… a little bit, I don’t know. It’s not even patience, because it’s damn fast. It just requires a willingness to be creative.”
Mollen admits that when something comes back untouched it sometimes feels like “a big fk you”. However, she tries not to take it personally.
“I don’t mind because I know I’m still winning, only they have to see it. For me it’s really just the exposure,” she explained.
“Recently, [the kids] went home to eat like a lettuce leaf. A sheet of romaine! So I’m coming. I am making progress.”
However, it sounds like her kids might be making something too pricey progress.
“Sid recently discovered truffle fries, something I wouldn’t encourage anyone to expose their kids to. It’s just expensive,” she says.
“I’m impressed in a way that he eats something that has such an umami flavor. But on the other hand, it really pisses me off because I don’t buy these kid f–king truffles all the time.”
Mollen is currently on tour promoting the book and sharing tips on how to seduce the pickiest little dictators.