I’ve been complaining about Sandra Lee for a while now, making little notes to compile a blog about this when Lon spotted “I Still Loathe Sandra Lee: February 2008″, on Foodie NYC. Bravo Joe! You say it well. May I just add a few things:

As Lon already mentioned in his review of celebrity chefs, Sandra Lee loves saying, “All you gotta do…” and then continues with multiple steps. It is just as annoying as the way Rachel Ray says E.V.O.O. and then continues to say Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Could you imagine if we went around explaining all of our acronyms?

Ok, back to Sandra Lee. Joe already talks about how she basically promotes processed food. Yes, feed your family yellow #5, trans fats and extra sodium. I wonder if people will start suing Sandra Lee the way they sued McDonald’s for making their kids obese.

But, this method of cooking is also very costly. If you’re trying to save time, you might as well just buy the food already made because you’re not saving money by cooking this way, at least not in Manhattan. Here are some ready-made or prepared things she uses. I did a few price comparisons at Garden of Eden and Fresh Direct (neither had all these things) to illustrate:

1. Cole slaw ingredients sliced in a bag at $2.99 for 12 oz vs buying cabbage and carrots at $0.99 per pound which would cost you $0.75 for the 12oz

2. Peeled garlic is $2.49 for 6oz vs. garlic bulbs at $2.99 per pound.

3. Taco seasoning mix is $0.99 for 1.25 oz (4 tablespoons) vs. Chili powder at $0.79 for 4.37 oz, onion powder at $0.79 for 3 oz, and salt (negligeable), plus skip the chemicals.

I couldn’t find things like frozen pre-chopped onions and powdered pizza dough mix (both things I’ve seen her use) but you should get the point by now….

Another factor is that things like pre-chopped, peeled, and pre-cut produce are generally not as sanitary. It also won’t last as long so how often are you going to go grocery shopping?

Has anyone else noticed that she seems like an alcoholic?

After some research it seems that Anthony Bourdain is not a fan either:

“SANDRA LEE: Pure evil. This frightening Hell Spawn of Kathie Lee and Betty Crocker seems on a mission to kill her fans, one meal at a time. She Must Be Stopped. Her death-dealing can-opening ways will cut a swath of destruction through the world if not contained. I would likely be arrested if I suggested on television that any children watching should promptly go to a wooded area with a gun and harm themselves. What’s the difference between that and Sandra suggesting we fill our mouths with Ritz Crackers, jam a can of Cheez Wiz in after and press hard? None that I can see. This is simply irresponsible programming. Its only possible use might be as a psychological warfare strategy against the resurgent Taliban–or dangerous insurgent groups. A large-racked blonde repeatedly urging Afghans and angry Iraqis to stuff themseles with fatty, processed American foods might be just the weapon we need to win the war on terror.”

~taken from a guest blog on Michael Rulman

posted by jessica at 11:05 AM Filed under Celebrities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.