Gorgeous goodies that are super healthy too!

Starting the new year with goals and ambitions is great but how many of us stick to them? There is a rise in people cutting down on meat, dairy, highly processed foods, sugar amongst other things for both personal choice or medical need.

Mooplehog in Okehampton has an imaginative menu including food suitable for vegans, vegetarians and all those who increasingly are incorporating plant-based food into their daily lives. Expect comforting home-made flavoursome soups, typical British stews, traditional daals alongside authentic middle-eastern falafel made by Yossi, our friend, who grew up working in his grandfather’s falafel shop in Jerusalem.

We make a raw cake range that’s both gluten free and free from added sugar. We also make a range of traditional sponge cakes as well as purchasing from Okeside Cottage Cakes, a friend who lives just along the road. Our take on American peanut butter and jelly is a smoked chilli peanut butter made locally and a home-made chilli jelly topping a sourdough crumpet. Simple but so effective.

Much more than just a café we have a range of gifts, local produce and a community corner for papers, flyers, business cards and magazines. The last Saturday of each month is our monthly evening buffet night. Our first Natural Beauty Night is on January 11th, a fun evening of making and taking home goodies both for men and women, bearded beasts especially welcome too!

Easybreakfast cookies

1 ripe banana1/3 cup sunflower/canola oil

2/3 cup unrefined sugar OR 1/3 cup agave

1 tsp vanilla

¾cup plain flour

½tsp baking soda

¼tsp salt

2 cups rolled oats

Cinnamon and nutmeg (to your taste, optional)

½cup mixed nuts

1/4 cup mixed seeds

½cup dried fruit

1/4 cup Pulsin' bar chunks (optional)

Heat the oven to 200c.

Mash the banana well with a fork/your hands. Add the oil and sugar and mix well with a fork. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, any vegan powdered spice/flavour you like and mix these ingredients well, until the mixture is quite moist.

Add oats, any nuts, seeds and protein chunks and mix really well with your hands to make sure the ingredients are well distributed and stuck together.

Make small balls with the dough and place on an oiled baking tray

Flatten the balls with the palm of your hand, making sure there is a reasonable gap between each disc.

Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Leave to cool on the baking trays and once they are slightly hardened, twist and lift to remove them from the tray and place on a cooling tray for a further 10 minutes.