Welcome to my Soup and Salad website and blog. I hope that as the website and blog expands, it will help you find some useful healthy recipes, hints, tips and ideas about starting, or expanding, your own “food journey”, as I am calling it.

I started this as I recently discovered a new passion for the food I eat, what I cook or create food wise, and wanted to share that with anyone interested.

I am loving it.

I started what I thought was going to be a boring “diet” six weeks ago, as my singular original goal was to lose weight. However, over the first six weeks my goals have become far wider that “being on a diet” to lose weight.

I am at the beginning of my food journey but, I am already loving it, yes LOVING IT, and the effects that it is having.

Leaving the words “on a diet” behind is one thing I am doing, as this seems to have become so much more of a personal journey, than a boing diet that I would be far less likely to continue with and enjoy in the longer term.

However, finding inspiration, information and ideas to start, and enjoy, your own unique food journey is my hope for this “blog” and website. Eating things that you love, and doing it your way, is a much more of a sustainable long term plan than following someone else’s “diet”.

So that is what this all about on Soup and Salad. Sharing some of the delicious soup and salad recipes that I have been coming up with, and perhaps sharing some of my personal journey, experiences and things I learn or discover along the way, just in case they help inspire you or help someone else.

Around six weeks ago I joined my wife, on her invitation, at a well known slimming club for an evening, just to “try it out”.

At 18 stone, 9 pounds, I felt I was a bit overweight and that it was affecting my health as I get older.

I was a little cynical, and wasn’t even sure I would attend a second evening.

However, to my surprise, and pleasure, I lost 1 and a 1/2 stone in my first month getting me a coveted “slimmer of the month” award.

Not all members attend the meeting after the weekly “weigh in”, and simply turn up to get weighed and leave. But I must say, on the evenings that we do stay, I find it interesting, and inspirational, listening to other peoples stories and healthy eating journey.

And extended family seem to have joined in one way or other, which its great too, as it is fun and helpful motivating each other and sharing ideas and thoughts along the way.

Healthy Eating

What is truly fascinating, is that I eat as much as I previously did, if not more, at times. However, as I am watching what I eat, and sticking (for the most part!) to healthy low fat, low sugar foods the weight has started dropping off.

On this food journey I rediscovered my love of soup and salad.

I had no idea that I could make such delicious healthy soups and salads making many of them up, as I go along this food journey. This website and blog is about sharing some of those recipes with you in the hope that it might also inspire you to find your love of healthy soups and salads.

The mushroom and potato soup I made earlier this week, pictured above, was a delight, scrummy. I will definitely be making that one again! It was a recipe I made-up earlier this week and will definitely be one of the recipes available on www.soupandsalad.co.uk.

I am not living on soup and salad everyday, or for every meal, as I don’t think that is necessarily a healthy balanced diet which is what I am aiming for.

In fact, on doing a reasonable amount of research, it became clear that some, mainly old fashioned diets, based mainly on soup and salad only as the best way to lose weight, are not a “balanced healthy diet”.

The goal is a healthy, balanced diet, although for me now, since rediscovering my love of soup and salad, they are both a regular feature in the food I eat each week and regularly.

So my goal is to pack as much healthy variety into the soup and salad recipes I create.

I will be featuring not only some of the recipes I’ve been coming up with, but also the results of some of the interesting research I am finding about food and soups and salads in particular. Plus, other food related hints, tips and ideas.

Eco Friendly Diet

Climate change, and the effect that humans are having on planet Earth, has been in the news a lot recently and has also become something on my radar and I really feel I need to play may part in.

This has inspired me to consider what I eat, how I prepare it, where I shop, and other factors relating to my food and diet and the environmental impact of that, and that will also become part of the Soup and Salad ethos.

I will be sharing some of the thoughts and ideas on becoming an food eco warrior, along the way too.

Hopefully, anyone inspired by my food journey might share their thoughts in comments sections of the site, and maybe even share the love with their friends and family if they find what I am posting useful or interesting.

So, this is just the beginning of an exciting food journey and eco friendly journey for me, and I hope some of you out there will be inspired by it, and find it helpful.

I am just a small cog in a massive world but, if I can make a difference, even just to help one person, then as far as I am concerned the effort of posting and sharing will all be worth it!

Even if just one person tries one of my soup creations or recommendations, and loves it, then that’s brilliant as far as I am concerned and well worth the effort.

Soup Love, from

John