I was raised poor white trash. Like, Mountain Dew in a baby bottle white trash. I suspect that I never "liked" a lot of foods because I didn't have much exposure to it as a child. Until recently, I ate a ton of fast food, would order the same things at most restaurants, and didn't have a whole lot of variety in my diet.

Now that I'm 30 and still tipping the scales at around 230 lbs despite having a much higher activity level than I've ever had, I'd like to 1) continue to drop weight and get fit, and 2) explore food to discover what I might enjoy now that I'm a grownup. If I have the convenient excuse of going to Wendy's and having a ratburger, then I won't put in the effort to sample new foods and find out what's out there for me.

I'm also a pretty good cook, and the people I've cooked for enjoyed what I made. I'd like to become a better one, and that won't happen without discovering new ingredients and putting them together in the right ways.