Hot Cheesy-Salsa Dip

This has become an Open House staple. It wouldn't be Christmas Open House at the Friesen's without the Hot Cheesy-Salsa dip. People have asked, and although they seem to believe me when I say, "Cheez Whiz plus enough salsa to make it just a little runny", I thought it might be time to do some measuring and make it official.


2 cups Cheez Whiz (or store brand jar of processed cheese spread)
1/2- 2/3 cup Salsa (home made or your favourite store brand)

I melt them together in a small slow cooker, on low heat. It takes about half an hour to an hour to have the dip melted together. You can also make the dip in the microwave; use microwave safe dish and microwave at 50% power for 1 minute at a time until ingredients are blended and hot.

Makes 2 1/2- almost 3 cups of hot dip.

If this is for a party or family event, you may need to turn the slow cooker off for short periods of time, because the slow cooker, even on low heat, will make the cheese quite hot. Over time, with evaporation, the cheese mixture will thicken; just add a little more salsa to thin it out as needed.

Lauralea's Potato Salad

Those of you who need-need-need structure will hate this recipe. Those with any amount of imagination might be able to deal with it. My potato salad is pretty much never exactly the same twice, because I generally use what's leftover and on hand. It's a good formula, though, and it's always tasty. Post your own inventive add-ins in the Comments section so others can reap the benefit of your expertise : )


If I'm planning potato salad for tomorrow, and I'm on the ball, I will purposefully cook extra potatoes for it today. If I happen to have a bunch of leftover boiled, baked or roasted potatoes, I might be inspired to turn them into potato salad.

Here are my potato salad tricks:

Figure on about half a medium potato per person. Plus one or two. I always err on the side of caution and abundance. For a potluck, I'll boil/cook probably 6 potatoes. Or whatever fits in the medium sized pot. Cut cooked potatoes up quite small. I don't generally make a chunky potato salad.

Boil an egg per person. Six to eight for a potluck salad. Chop them quite small. I cut each egg in thirds lengthwise, then in thirds again on the uncut side, (to make 9 lengthwise pieces) then cut across all 9 pieces making small diced bits of egg and yolk.

I use mayonnaise or Miracle Whip-type salad dressing, (whatever's on hand) added until the potatoes and eggs are coated but still quite dry. I squeeze in a generous dollop of prepared mustard, add a few soup spoons of green relish, and a splash of vinegar if I'm using mayonnaise. With the vinegar I add a couple of spoons full  of sugar from the sugar bowl. I like to add Ranch Dressing as the finishing touch,(Ranch with Bacon, Peppercorn Ranch and Creamy Cucumber are all good as well), to hold the salad together and make it creamy. Salt, onion powder (if I'm not adding onion-y things) and lemon-pepper are all added to taste.

Thinly sliced radishes, finely diced celery, chopped chives or green onions are all things I add to the potatoes and eggs if I have them in the fridge. If I'm not using peeled, cooked, leftover potatoes, I leave the skins on for a bit of extra fibre.

If it tastes a little "flat", I'll add a bit more vinegar and sugar to balance it as needed. Sometimes it just needs a little more salt.

I've been known to add 10%-18% cream to make the mayonnaise stretch further, and the Ranch Dressing was discovered when I'd run out of mayonnaise altogether before the salad was creamy enough. Low fat mayonnaise and dressings work fine, and I've used Splenda instead of sugar to counter the vinegar.

Hope these ideas work for you!

Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing

With a light, summery salad, you need a light, refreshing dressing. This is one. The original (from the Complete Canadian Diabetic Cookbook) called for sour cream and orange juice. I've altered it just a bit. It's light, lovely and very quick to whip up.


1 small- medium orange
3 Tablespoons light mayonnaise
3 Tablespoons fat-free, no sugar added yogurt (I used Yoplait Source Melon Trio)
1 Tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons poppy seeds

With a citrus zester, zest the orange into a small bowl. (about 1 teaspoon orange zest).

Cut the zested orange in half, and squeeze out the juice to make 1/4 cup. Add it to the orange zest in the bowl.

Whisk together the orange zest and juice, mayonnaise, yogurt, honey, and poppy seeds.

Makes about 3/4 cup. Store leftover dressing in the refrigerator.

Orange- Poppy Seed Dressing

I found the basis for this one in the "Complete Canadian Diabetes Cookbook". A wonderful salad dressing. Give it a try.


zest from a medium sized orange
juice from the orange (1/4 cup)
3 tablespoons each light mayonnaise and fat free sour cream
1 tablespoon liquid honey
2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Whisk all ingredients together. Serve over tossed green salad. Makes about 3/4 cup.
Store in the refrigerator.

*The nutritional analysis is for the original recipe, which called for "light" sour cream. Fat and calorie count should be a little lower with the fat free variety.
Per Tablespoon:
28 Calories, 3 g. Carbohydrates, no fibre or protein, 2 g. total fat, 22 mg. Sodium, 2 mg Cholesterol.

Easy Fruit Dip

This is an old standby that has been around for a long time. So easy a child can do it! Turns cut up fruit pieces into something special.

Simply mix together equal amounts of Cool Whip whipped topping (or dairy whipping cream whipped) and fruit yogurt.

Serve with cut up, fresh fruit- banana, pineapple, apples, strawberries, peaches and pears are especially good. Leave smaller fruit and berries whole, and cut larger fruit into bite sized pieces.

To keep it good and good for you, use Cool Whip Lite or 95% fat free, or a sugar-free variety if you can find it, and low fat or no-sugar-added yogurt.

Our favourite is with strawberry yogurt.

Nelson's Sweet Onion, Lemon-Dill Salad Dressing

When we were in England in 1995, we had dinner with the Director of the London Mennonite Centre and his family, and he made this amazing salad dressing. No fat, great flavour, and no sugar if you use Splenda. All of the ingredients are on the "free food" list for diabetics. It would also make a delightful marinade for chicken or fish.

1/2 medium-sized sweet onion
1/2 large lemon, zested
Juice from 1/2 large lemon
1 rounded Tablespoon sugar or Splenda artificial sweetener (or to taste)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
3/4 teaspoon dill weed
pepper to taste
vinegar as needed

Put all ingredients, except vinegar, in a blender. Blend together until onion is juiced and dressing is smooth. Add vinegar, a little at a time if it's too thick. If you need to add vinegar, you may need to add more sweetener. That's it! Enjoy with your favourite tossed salad.