I liked Melissa a lot! She's a bit hyper for me, but I'd watch her over Jeffrey any day. Something about him...I just didn't like it. He was "too" polished and fake-feeling to me....don't know what it was. But I'll watch Melissa for sure and see if the things I liked about her in the competition carry over to the show!

I feel there are a lot of shows on FN that showcase gourmet or exotic ingredients. What I really want is a show that will show me how to feel my family. I like watching Iron Chef but don't have a great desire to eat the food or try and make it myself.

I'm not against trying new things, once in a while, but buying one {sometimes expensive ingredient, found only at a specialty store} that I don't know what tastes like or if I will ever use again, isn't going to happen often.

I like Melissa, I can relate to her, and I will tune into her show. Some of the other contestants, while good at what the do and having a fresh perspecitve on food, were making the same foods that I've seen again and again on FN.

I really liked Melissa's Four Step Chicken. This is the kind of meal planning I like, recipes that I can put any kind of meat, veg or cheese and come up with something good. I have a Frittata recipe I make when I have a bunch of leftovers and need to clean out the fridge.

Chic, Thanks for the link!

You are so welcome! I am excited to see the show :D

ACK!!!!

I just realized her show is on in the afternoon! We never watch TV in the afternoon. I'm not even sure we'll be home from church at 12:30!

Grrr!

Oh no :( Do you have DVR so you can set shows to record?

This is exactly what I said about the concept of Jeffery's show. I also love watching the Iron Chef but I've never once thought to actually make those dishes. While there is a possibility I would have bought an ingredient Jeffery used, the likelihood isn't as good as what I probably will get from Melissa's show.

You need to tape her show, or look to see if it might be repeated at another time. The Food Network does a lot of repeating at later times.

I do have a hand-me -down' DVDR but I haven't had a lot of luck with it.

I'd rather find the show later, that's a good idea, Pita

I'm with y'all...I like things that I could possibly make. That's why I liked Sandra Lee's semi-homemade show (is it even still on?)...they weren't all gourmet meals, but I could see myself making them (and DID on more than one occasion)...

Not sure about the "$10 Dinners" concept, though...how far CAN she go with that? It'll be interesting to see. I can't even make generic spaghetti for less than $10 around here...

Sandra's show is still on, in the morning and afternoon same show though

Was it Family Circle mag that did {or still does} recipes and gave you the breakdown of how much it was to make per serving? Their servings IIRC were about $2 each.

Mandalinn82,

Please apply. They really need a show on healthy cooking, but this season's healthy cooking person just was not right for it.

I would love to see you on Food Network!

Okay, I tried to look up Melissa's show to see if it was going to be shown again on Sun but the schedule only runs from Sun -Sat.

Even worse I'm in Central time which means the show airs at 11:30, but I'm sure they will show it again as Pita suggested

You know, I've really thought about it. But that show isn't the right venue (just as it wasn't the right venue for the healthy girl this time) to find a new healthy show. The nature of the challenges is such that you can't work in your "unique perspective"...can you imagine the low-cal chef pitching on Paula Dean Deep Fry Theme Week?? The winners have all been fairly generic in cuisine (not concept, maybe, but cuisine)...just because the challenge doesn't allow for anything else.

It'd have to be a separate pitch, regrettably. Unless the FN folks decide they need a calorie-conscious show, and then design challenges around that, no healthy/calorie conscious contestant has a chance of winning.

Sounds good to me! I personally think that would go over well.

So, I watched Melissa's show today and I happen to have found it entertaining and her ideas were simple and practical :D

Haven't seen it yet... I'll check the times...