Fun with ramen

Yesterday at a church activity we split into two teams and had an Iron Chef style challenge: create dishes using the secret ingredients of ramen noodles and Spam plus whatever other ingredients we could find in our assigned kitchen. My team decided to go with a breakfast theme and we created a plate consisting of several elements, including some rather forgettable ramen coated pancakes and Spam hash browns. However, we did create an indisputable crowd favorite and critical success in the highly unlikely form of a chocolate and peanut butter ramen cereal! The cereal won the "Most Marketable" award and was a hit with everyone who tried it. I'm going to head to the store pretty soon to pick up some chocolate chips because I'm seriously jonesing for some more of it.

I never thought I'd be posting recipes on my blog, but since I just wrote that whole spiel about sharing cool stuff in my last post I think I'd better pass this one along:

Choco-Ramen Peanut Crunch!

1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 package ramen noodles (minus the seasoning packet of course)

Crumble ramen noodles into bite-sized pieces in a medium-size bowl. Microwave chocolate chips and peanut butter for 1 minute. Stir, then microwave for 1 minute more. Stir until smooth. Pour over ramen noodles and stir until well-coated. Spread chocolate-coated noodles onto a cookie sheet and let cool (you can place it in the freezer to cool more quickly).

You can eat it as is as a snack or add milk and eat it as a cereal. It stays crunchy in milk for a surprisingly long time!

Special thanks to fellow team member Amy Jeppsen for typing up the recipe and creating that great "part of a balanced breakfast" picture (editor's note: cereal pictured does not resemble the finished product). Also, we gotta come up with a killer name and/or mascot for this stuff - Choco-Ramen? Ramen Puffs? Cap'n Ramen? Feel free to chime in with your ideas.