Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative distributes a lot of cereal during our food distributions. A total of 1,200 boxes of cereal and other breakfast staples, like oatmeal and pancake mix, are provided to approximately 340 households monthly.

Over the last few months, our WCHI pantry was blessed with many cases of Grape-Nuts flakes and Bran Flakes cereals ordered from Second Harvest Food Bank.

There are so many sweet, flavored cereals that are marketed to appeal to kids. Bran Flakes are generally not a cereal a lot of people choose for its flavor. They may be viewed as an old-fashioned product by young people. The flakes are often perceived to be dry, and some may even say they taste like cardboard or even make that assumption without even tasting them.

People often think of raisins and bran as a dynamic duo. Most of Kellogg’s brand Raisin Bran commercials focus on the two scoops of raisins in each box, skipping over the benefits of the whole grain, high dietary fiber and healthy essential fatty acids they offer from the bran. The raisins, a dried fruit, are naturally sweet, so the combo is a good one in terms of healthiness as well as a balance of flavors.

For most people, bran flakes may not be their first or second choice of cereal. It was a bit of a challenge to convince our pantry guests to select these somewhat unappealing cereals.

When this happened, we felt determined to find a creative way to make people interested in choosing them. Maybe it was that type of challenge that created the match of raisins and bran in the cereal marketing world. In fact, WCHI also offered a package of raisins along with a selection of bran cereal to our pantry guests in March.

The best way to encourage people to taste something is to offer samples. Even our volunteers were pleasantly surprised the bran flakes have a lightly sweet flavor when eaten by themselves as a dry snack, since they are not sugar-free.

We also adapted a recipe from the back of a cereal box by mixing cereal flakes with peanut butter, a little honey and some with raisins to create a sticky little protein ball called a Nutter Butter Power Bite.

I spoke with several pantry guests, who said there was at least one ingredient in them that they didn’t like. But when they tasted it, they liked the combination and would eat it again. What we added contained natural sweetness that made us all forget about the “boring” bran.

When at a loss for a meal idea, you can get creative with the ingredients you have in your kitchen.

WCHI always needs cereal and other nonperishable donations to supplement what may be available through Second Harvest Food Bank. Being a Healthy Pantry Initiative, WCHI prefers low-sugar, low-sodium and healthier varieties of cereal.

Donations can be dropped off or delivered to the RE/MAX Unlimited office, 1080 Schadt Ave., Whitehall, 18052, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and placed inside the foyer.

Editor’s note: This column was written by Jenn Dietz, Healthy Pantry Initiative chair and pantry co-manager.