Melissa d'Arabian, host of the popular budget-friendly series Ten Dollar Dinners, knows exactly how it feels to be a contestant on Food Network Star -- she beat out thousands of hopefuls to claim the "Star" title in Season 5. Now, as she watches from her couch, she's offering the new cast ten tips, or pieces of advice, on how to survive the season:

Forty-five minutes sounds like an eternity to cook one dish, right? And it is — at home. Forget what you think you know about time. Forty-five minutes is nothing.

It’s just plain old bad luck. It tempts the gods of great television just too much.

Head over to Food Network's Star blog now to read Melissa's top tips.

Watch an all-new episode of Food Network Star this Sunday: 9 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Central