Cooking Shows that Focus on Lower Budget Cooking

Many American's are feeling the crunch of today's economy. There are still several families struggling to make ends meet for various reasons. One major monthly cost that families cannot ignore is the cost of food. Some families struggle to have enough money to buy food to put on the table not to mention the struggle to put nutritious food on the table. Some families may have to choose to pay the rent or pay for medication for a family member or go to the grocery store. This seems to be a growing problem in America. According to Share Our Strength's charitable organization, about 1 out of every 4 children have hunger issues.

With the ever popular Food Network and now the new Cooking Channel, I am really surprised that there are not more shows that focus on saving families more money on their grocery bills and/or showing viewers how to eat healthier meals for less. There are only three television chef's/cooks that come to mind that focus every show on getting more for less.

One is Sandra Lee who I love, love, love. When I first got addicted to Food Network I was on maternity leave for the first time in 2004. I have to admit my mother was a fan of Sandra first and I didn't care for her. I never really gave her a chance. All I remember is that she was this pretty little skinny thing that cooked on TV. I have been leery of chefs and cooks that are skinny. LOL! I guess I think those that cook well should have some meat on their bones. Well, my mother convinced me to give her a chance and when I went on maternity leave and had Food Network on the television literally 24/7, I caught some of Sandra Lee's cooking show and instantly became a fan.

Sandra Lee who is famous for her Semi-Homemade style cooking and has a new show on Food Network called Sandra's Money Saving Meals. The focus of the show is to provide the viewers with low cost recipes and then giving "Round 2" recipes that give the viewers ideas on how to use the leftovers in a new dishes. Sandra also shares tips on how to get the most from your grocery shopping trips and how to maintain an effective pantry.

Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade Cooking is a show that educates the home cook how to use 30% fresh ingredients with 70% ready-made products. This in itself is a great money saving technique because cooking with 100% fresh ingredients can be very costly not to mention time consuming!

Good Deal with Dave Lieberman shows viewers how to eat and entertain like royalty on a pauper's budget. This New York personal chef is all about high quality, healthy meals that are inexpensive to make.

Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa d'Arabian is a Food Network show that helps teach us to create meals for a family of four for ten bucks or less. Melissa d'Arabian is the season five winner of The Next Food Network Star. What is nice about Melissa's show is that she was a stay-at-home and her meals are designs from her own life experiences as a mother of four. You would think that the dinners would be your typical home-style meals; this is true, although you will also find cuisine from a variety of different cultures.