This month, welcome Sara Bir. Sara Bir is the author of two cookbooks, Tasting Ohio and the IACP award-winning The Fruit Forager’s Companion. She also moderates and replies to your comments here on Simply Recipes. Follow her @sausagetarian.

Congratulations! You made it. 2020 is old news and 2021 is the proverbial babe in diapers, toddling out into an uncertain world. Maybe you did a deep dive into celebratory foods over the holidays. It’s okay—the holidays are for celebrating, after all. But I, for one, am ready to retire cookies as a food group for a good, long while.

I don’t know one person who’s not ready for a fresh start. Now you can switch it up and give your body the lighter, simpler foods you may be craving. We’re still knee-deep in this global pandemic, and that’s why it’s extra-important to take care of yourself and the folks you love.

I miss eating in restaurants, hugging my friends, and sending my kid off to her neighborhood school. But I still have walks in the woods with my dog, weekly Zoom trivia, and holds to pick up at the library. And there’s still dinner, which (even if I don’t always look forward to making it), I look forward to eating.

These are recipes to power you up for tackling the winter months with energy and positivity. So, yay for Meatless Mondays, Weekend Baking, and new beginnings. Because you don’t need a new year to start fresh—every day is a new beginning. Let’s get to it!