Sandra Lee (born Sandra Lee Christiansen; July 3, 1966) is an American television chef and author. She is known for her "Semi-Homemade" cooking concept, which Lee describes as using 70 percent pre-packaged products and 30 percent fresh items.
Sandra Lee Christiansen was born in Santa Monica, California, the daughter of Vicky and Wayne Christiansen. When Sandra was 2, her mother had her and her younger sister Cindy live with their paternal grandmother, Lorraine. By 1972, the girls' parents had divorced; their mother remarried, moving them to Sumner, Washington. When Lee was 11, her mother divorced for a second time. Lee by this time had three additional siblings, Kimmy, Richie and Johnny. At 15, following a beating by her mother, Lee moved in with her boyfriend, Duane, and on June 30, 1982, left for Wisconsin to live with her father and his girlfriend. She graduated from Onalaska High School in Onalaska, Wisconsin, and later attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.