Cooking vs Baking

I must confess that I am not the best baker.  I am great at cooking, but when it comes to baking I have not mastered it yet.   I am always a little nervous when watching the oven timer go down.  Some of these thoughts cross my mind- Did I get it right this time?  Am I going to have to start over again? Is my husband going to like it?  My husband is not easy to impress when it comes to baking.  He comes from a long line of mastered bakers.  His father is a great baker and so are most of his 8 sisters.  For me, when it comes to baking it is still 50/50.  Fifty percent of the time it will work out and fifty percent of the time it won't.  I guess even when the outcome is not great- I can usually talk my four year old into eating some!  He is is a great sport.  One reason I love the Nourishing Traditions cookbook is that it keeps baking simple.  Simple recipes.  Simple healthy ingredients.  Lots of room for improvement.  The bread recipes are awesome and the dessert recipes are lower on sugar than what you may be used to, but very healthy and good.
Speaking of baking and sugar, this week I read an article about Girl Scout cookies being highly processed and unhealthy.  Not a big surprise of course.  This article highlighted the unhealthy ingredient list and really focused on the unhealthy hydrogenated fats that are used, which are terrible for your health and your brain.  Nothing new.  These are cookies coming from a box with many of the same ingredients you would find in Chips Ahoy or Oreos.  You get what you see.  What I did come across that was cool was the Original Girl Scout cookie recipe.  I loved checking out this out!  Here is the link.  If you like thin mints then click here for a homemade thin mint recipe.  Which was my all time favorite growing up.  I remember being a girl scout for many years and eating Thin Mint cookies by the boxes.  They were so addicting then and I bet they still are now!  I think the original girl scouts had the right idea.  They went around selling homemade cookies door to door.  It is too bad that any idea (in the food industry) that starts out healthy or semi- healthy (they are cookies I guess) and makes it "BIG" ends up loosing it's healthy ingredients and replacing them for cheap highly processed ingredients.  It is all about profits.  Food can be made better and healthier, it just take more time and money.  I guess that is not great for corporate America.  This year make your own version of Girl Scout cookies and just donate money to the troop if you feel inclined.  They will make more and your health will thank you!