My favorite recipes

Jul 30, 20140

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Recipe

Most know Mike Morgan as the football coach in Colfax, or the band director, or some other school role, but one he takes very seriously is that of teacher of nutrition and healthy lifestyles.

From the days when he started playing football as a freshman at Vale High School in Oregon, through football playing days at Palouse High, where he and wife Evanna graduated, through coaching at college and high school level, the use of good nutrition to build healthy athletic bodies has grown exponentially.

Mike was a three-sport athlete in high school, playing football, basketball and baseball, and then swimming in the summer. His mother, a registered nurse, was ahead of her time in feeding athletes, Mike commented.

He attended the College of Idaho, Caldwell, his first semester, then transferred to Washington State University to major in music education, while playing in the jazz band and singing with the Chamber Singers. After graduating in 1987, he was hired by his former high school in Vale to teach music and high school choir while serving as an assistant coach in football, basketball and baseball for four years.

His next position was as a volunteer coaching tight ends at WSU for Coach Mike Price, which was a great opportunity. Coaching two all-PAC 10 tight ends at the time, Butch Williams and Brett Carolyn, was a thrill.

“It was a really great experience,” Mike said, but by then he and Evanna had Kyle and Adrienne, and he only saw them while they were sleeping. Football required his attention from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m.

“My heart was back in teaching young people,” so he applied at Colfax School District and was hired by the Supt. Don Cox. He taught grades 5-12 band, language arts and physical education.

As an assistant for football Coach Doug Curtis, Mike gained “a great mentor, a great guy to work for and with.”

Since 1992, Mike has filled other positions, such as interim grade school principal, vice principal at Jennings Elementary School, and athletic director for 10 years for the junior and senior high schools. At present, Mike has five periods of grades 5-12 band, and two periods of weight lifting, a physical education class. He completed his master’s degree in education administration in 1993.

After 23 years in Colfax, Mike calls Colfax a great place to raise a family, with wonderful teachers and people. Kyle, now 26, works at Colfax Body Shop. Adrienne, 24, graduated from WSU and is ready to start her first teaching job this fall, second grade at Woodland Elementary near Vancouver. Kellen will start his last year at Eastern Washington University this fall, majoring in philosophy and minoring in music.

Adrienne resembles her parents in that she has known what she wanted to do for a long time and has had a straight path to do it. The boys are not so certain. Mike tells his students, “There are all sorts of paths--some people take straight paths, and others wander all over the country...but manage to eventually get where they want to go.”

With his athletic director position behind him, Mike has the time to work as a presenter for Proactive Coaching from Camano Island, founded by Bruce and Dana Brown. His speaking dates take him all over the country. In August, he will be talking to a high school in Houston, Texas. He and Sue Doering, Colfax volleyball coach, are speaking at a coaches’ school where coaches gain accreditation. Coaches do not learn strategies and plays, but rather coaching philosophies, nutrition and so on.

His most popular talk is to parents about letting go of their teens, letting their teachers and coaches work with their kids, allowing their teens to try and fail in safe places, where they can safely learn major life lessons without dire harm. Also, hearing messages parents have been trying to teach for years from a third party often has additional impact.

Mike has spent a great deal of time and attention on nutrition, reading, workshops, clinics, using a lot of sources, including coaches who he knows. He stresses to his students that it is important to eat properly for high school, but also for your lifetime. In his sports and weight lifting classes, he talks of building lifetime eating and exercise habits, being aware that one’s metabolism slows down with age.

In football and weight lifting, he first focuses on the now. Try to put the best ingredients into your body to fuel it. Garbage in equals garbage out. Students study nutrition, are given handouts and information is posted for them to see.

In freshman year, Colfax students have a semester of health, which includes nutrition, from Cathy White, and a semester of weight lifting, which includes nutrition, from Mr. Morgan, so they are receiving similar information from two sources. If they do not hear the message from Mrs. White and Mr. Morgan, Mrs. Doering is broadcasting the same news.

His number one rule is to eat as simple ingredients as possible. Eggs don’t have a list of ingredients on the package. Texas rolls, available in vending machines, have fifty-six. Some of those ingredients are probably not good fuel for the body. Students should not try to avoid eating fast food, but they should limit it.

Meal planning for athletes consists of three good meals daily with protein in each meal, and healthy snacks in between, and a lot of fruit and vegetables. “Ditch the tongue,” he advises, and think of food as fuel.

Sodas get a thumbs-down from Mike. They are dehydrators, and that is a problem with hard workouts and practices. As far as sports drinks, the coaches advise that if you drink a sports drink, then the next three portions need to be water. Hydration is important.

When Mike and his brothers played football in Vale, the philosophy was that water made you weak. There was one water break per practice, which consisted of three to four seconds of drinking from a water hose held by the coach. Kids were so thirsty that they were catching water in their helmets and sucking on their wet shirts. After practice, players could take salt pills. These practices aid in provoking heat exhaustion, so thankfully, they have changed.

Nutritionists, Mike commented, are fighting the popular culture. Advertising seldom suggests that people eat fruit and vegetables and lean meats. Kids have to learn to think about what they are eating.

Weight lifting classes at Colfax High include the general student population. During the first few weeks, the students who spend their time playing video games find the class difficult. Non-athletes generally catch up with the athletes by mid-semester, lifting the same weights or more, running as much, doing as many pushups.

High school coaches are really pushing nutrition because of all that they have learned from research and from college-level athletic programs. College athletes are big, strong, physical men and women thanks to good nutrition.

The fall sports meeting for athletes and parents includes nutrition information. It is important for parents to know that athletes need protein in their after-practice meals. They need healthy snacks, too.

For the slightly older athlete and eater, Mike recommends “Younger Next Year,” a book passed through his family about aging and being healthy from age fifty and beyond.

The coaches meet monthly outside of football season, with Mike and Evanna furnishing the spaghetti and the coaches bringing the rest. Eating is part of a team’s life, and the Thursday night team dinners during the season hosted by parents are always great balanced dinners with protein, healthy carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables. If the team plays particularly well after a certain meal, they ask for the same meal again. Just a little superstition at play!

For a good balance of carbs for a half-time snack, a good-sized square of Rice Krispie treats made with butter is the ticket. Adding peanut butter makes it higher in protein.

Recipes

Noodle Chicken Parmesan

Quick and easy meal with lean

protein and carbohydrates to refuel the body, but not heavy.

1 rotisserie chicken

2 15-ounce cans of chicken broth

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 package of fettucine

1 package of shredded Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Open the container of chicken and let it cool. Begin shredding it with your hands and set aside.

Pour chicken broth into a large skillet; heat over low heat. Add the minced garlic and bring to a boil. Turn heat to simmer and add the shredded chicken. Let it soak in the chicken broth while pasta is cooking.

In a large container, bring water to a boil, add pasta, and cook about 8 to 10 minutes until al dente.

When pasta is done, instead of draining it, scoop the pasta into the chicken broth. Now slowly add the shredded Parmesan cheese to the dish and stir well. Dinner is served.

Chicken

Grape Salad

~popular dish for faculty

functions and family gatherings~

tri-colored pasta

cooked chicken, chopped

grapes, halved

1/2 bag of fresh baby spinach

Parmesan cheese

to your liking: green onion, sunflower seeds, artichoke hearts, olives,

Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise