Sandra Lee Is Back! The TV Chef Gets Personal About Finding Gratitude in Life's Obstacles — ‘God Has Given Me Everything, But He’s Made Me Work for It’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Television chef, author and QVC Q50 ambassador Sandra Lee is seeing one of her dreams come true with her new hit Netflix series, Blue Ribbon Baking Championship. Receiving a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lifestyle/Culinary Show Host in 2012 for her work on Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee, the now 58-year-old television personality reflects on some of her life’s obstacles that include a breast cancer diagnosis resulting in a double mastectomy, her personal break-up with Andrew Cuomo and an early childhood of essentially raising her four younger siblings due to her mother’s battle with addiction. 

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“God has given me everything, but he’s made me work for it,” she told FIRST for Women as our cover girl (get your copy here!). “I’ve had to make my own silver platter in life.”

Through all of Sandra’s obstacles in life, she’s learned to stay positive and never stop believing in herself. Lee spoke to FIRST about being grateful for what she’s accomplished and how she welcomes everyday with confidence, kindness and appreciation for what life throws in her path.

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FIRST for Women: Was there a certain epiphany or is it a lifelong journey that brought you the confidence and made you the woman you are today?

Sandra Lee: I think it always stems from pain. And everybody is really in the same place. You either just got out of pain, just going through it or just came out of pain and you’re so grateful for coming out the other side of it. It’s that pain that makes us buck up and really be observant of how we want our future to go.

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FFW: You were basically the matriarch for your four younger siblings. How do you think that experience has formed your approach to cooking right now?

SL: I think there are a lot of misconceptions about my cooking. I think people have put me in a box where I can only cook from the grocery store and people don’t realize I can cook every which way. 

I can cook from scratch, I can cook from the grocery store, I can bake as well as I cook and I can do the baking from scratch or from the box. So I think it gave me a very grounded presence in the kitchen that I can pivot on no notice.

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FFW: Yet you were dubbed “the queen of making something out of nothing.” If you were to give a tip to someone making a dish out of three or four ingredients, what would you recommend?

SL: It really depends on what you have in the refrigerator and kitchen. I’m definitely a product of my youth and that there should always be a protein, a starch and vegetables. Obviously, that’s changed over the years on the food chart. I always have ground turkey or ground beef in the fridge, so there’s always that to make. 

You can do something as simple as a patty with whatever condiment you have. For me, I have cucumbers around so I dice them up, put them on the side with some salt or salt substitute, some olive oil, seasonings and there’s your vegetable.

FFW: You said that “nonsense” causes you everyday little stresses, but that you welcome mistakes. How so?

SL: I hadn’t worked for the last eight years with my cancer diagnosis, my uncle being diagnosed with cancer and being with him, and then COVID hit. And that’s not even to mention the big breakup. Nonsense can be negotiating one of the 20 shows that I created over the span of those years. So when people negotiate without thoughtfulness on both sides, that frustrates me. 

But I like my mistakes and I like learning from my mistakes, even if a mistake was to stay somewhere too long or to dive in too deep. That’s just who I am and I like who I am. I’m proud of myself. And try to see the mistakes I’ve made in the past, how they could affect what I’m doing now. So experiences and how people behave might be a trigger for me. I try to do everything with kindness, empathy and thoughtfulness.  

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FFW: I know you cook to music and different genres throughout the day. What are the various tunes?

SL: Anything classical in the morning. Afternoon is 80s ‘cause it’s happy and energized. Evening could be Barry White or something sexy.

FFW: And where does “Don’t Stop Believin’” come in?

SL: It’s my favorite karaoke song and has special meaning to me as well. I grew up with that song. Leaving an absent mother and put in a situation where I was a parent and moving to Wisconsin to a father I didn’t know…it was heart wrenching. 

For me – just a small town girl, living in a lonely world – the lyrics had incredible meaning. That was part of the pain I talked about earlier. I was 15, in a small town and couldn’t wait to get out. So that song has more meaning to me than just a dance tune. The words have real meaning. It meant I’m going to make something for myself, I’m going to be proud of myself and I’m going to get out of here. And I’ve done so many things that I can be proud of. I’m so grateful.  

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