KU Athletics creates mobile app to help student athletes eat better on, off campus

(Image from the Jayhawk Fuel Facebook page)

I’ve often wondered how hard it must be for those 7-foot basketball players or 300-pound linemen on the football team — spending hours a day in workouts of puke-inducing intensity levels — to get enough to eat.

I mean, I feel like I eat a lot, and by comparison to college athletes I might as well be sedentary.

Kansas University Athletics recently announced a mobile app to make it easier for KU athletes to make good eating choices. KU Athletics’ sports nutrition unit partnered with a company called MobileSmith to create the app, called Jayhawk Fuel.

The app features recipes from the “Jayhawk Fuel High Performance Cookbook,” a list of “better and best options” at local restaurants, sports nutrition staff bios, team nutrition guides, a consultation request form for student-athletes, helpful links and a weekly training table menu for Mrs. E’s cafeteria, according to a recent KU Athletics announcement.

It also includes helpful tips from the Jayhawk Fuel Twitter (@JayhawkFuel) and Facebook (facebook.com/jayhawkfuel) feeds. The app is available for iOS via the App Store and for Android via Google Play.

Writing this, coincidentally on the day after Thanksgiving, makes me feel like eating better myself. Plus if you didn’t know, I used to be the Journal-World’s food reporter, so I’m all about recipes.

Ingredients for this one, shared on the Jayhawk Fuel Facebook page, are going on my grocery list this weekend (plus, I’m thinking, fresh cilantro and tortillas for serving). The recipe doesn’t specify how many servings it makes — but that would depend on if you’re me or a 300-pound lineman. Plan accordingly.

SLOW COOKER PINEAPPLE CHICKEN

Plan ahead with this easy slow cooker recipe and be transported to a delicious, tropical paradise when you get home from a busy day at school or work.

Equipment needed?

• slow cooker?

• cutting board?

• knife

Ingredients?

• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts

?• 1 (12 ounce) jar of your favorite salsa?

• 4 small raw zucchini, halved, quartered, then sliced (shredding works, too)?

• ¼ medium fresh pineapple, chopped

Directions?

Turn on slow cooker to the low setting and put in the chicken and salsa. Mix in your raw zucchini. Cook for about 4 to 6 hours. Slow cookers vary, so base the time on that. The chicken should fall apart easily when finished. Shred the chicken using two forks and mix in the fresh pineapple.

(Recipe from Jayhawk Fuel – Kansas Sports Nutrition)

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