Meet Erin Startin, Colfax

Erin Startin has two career paths going in Colfax, since she works as a massage therapist at Whitman Hospital and Medical Center and at Colfax School District as a certified athletic trainer. She also leads SAIL exercise classes for seniors. SAIL stands for Stay Active and Independent for Life. Classes are Monday and Wednesday at Hill-Ray Plaza, with Tuesday and Thursday classes in LaCrosse at the United Methodist Church.

For the athletic training part of her job, Erin goes to the high school daily during sports seasons, which is most of the time, for practices and games. She attends all home games. She “evaluates injuries, helps with rehabilitation activities, does concussion management, works on injury prevention, and” she joked, “hands out Band-Aids.”

Injury prevention includes strength and conditioning, proper lifting techniques, and stretching. For concussion management, she gives a baseline test called ImPACT on all the athletes before the season starts. This baseline gives something to which to compare a student’s condition if he or she suffers a concussion.

Erin is both nationally board certified as an athletic trainer and a certified ImPACT reader for assessing concussion injuries.

Massage therapy is seen as medically-based now, as compared to the past, and many more people are using massage therapy to manage symptoms such as muscle spasms, pain and stiffness. After injuries or surgeries, massage can bring about relaxed muscles. Massage also can decrease blood pressure, too.

A Whitman County native, Erin grew up on a farm near LaCrosse, riding horses and raising 4-H and FFA pigs. Pigs, she noted, are a lot like dogs in that they bond with people.

After graduating from LaCrosse High School, Erin graduated from Eastern Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in athletic training, which she followed with massage therapy training at Moscow School of Massage. Her husband is Evan Startin, also a LaCrosse High School graduate, who graduated from the University of Idaho in agricultural systems management. He works for Mark Richter of Endicott farming and does custom spraying.

Evan and Erin met when he was nine and she was seven because both of their fathers worked for Jerry Maley. They were friends through school and started dating when he began college. They were married in a country-themed wedding several summers ago. She wanted to use orange tiger lilies and had chosen a bright blue as an accent color. Evan said he was not getting married in Boise State colors. She quickly picked a soft sage green instead.

The Startin’s recently bought a house and eleven acres about six miles out of Colfax. So far, they have four horses and some chickens, are putting up hay from the pasture, and have a lot of mowing. They have a commercial-size lawn tractor, and she said, “Evan keeps it hot.” Catching up on the yard and acreage are their current goals, and at some time the house will need some updating.

Evan and Erin will enjoy riding horses and camping until time for harvest. “Outdoor activities are more fun,” she added, “when there are no thunderstorms.”

Erin began learning to cook with her mother, who ‘“never discouraged us from cooking. She was actually our 4-H cooking instructor.” The club met monthly in the Consumer and Family Studies (Home Ec) room at LaCrosse High School to cook, a part of LaCrosse All-Purpose 4-H, with about equal numbers of boys and girls. Evan belonged, too.

Erin cooks most of the time, with occasional help from Evan. They enjoy spicy dishes, eating more Tex-Mex-style meals. Their two dogs, Ellie and Indy, assist. Evan will probably be doing a little more of the cooking later this summer, when their first baby arrives. They are expecting a little girl, and the grandparents are about as excited as Evan and Erin.

Recipes:

Buffalo

Chicken Dip

2 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken

1/2 cup cayenne pepper sauce (Frank’s Red-Hot Sauce is the best)

1 cup Best Foods mayonnaise

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

2 Tablespoons finely chopped green onions

1 teaspoon lime juice

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toss chicken with cayenne pepper sauce. Stir in remaining ingredients, except blue cheese. Turn into a 1 1/2-quart shallow casserole dish. Sprinkle top with blue cheese. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until bubbling.

Serve with celery, red peppers, or tortilla chips.

Greek

Spinach Puffs

Erin's husband who doesn’t like

vegetables will eat this!

1 5-ounce package fresh baby spinach leaves (about 7 cups)

1 6.5-ounce jar marinated artichokes, drained and patted dry

1/4 cup light mayonnaise

1 garlic clove, peeled

1 small red bell pepper

4 ounces Feta cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1 Tablespoon lemon pepper rub

flour for dusting

1 8-ounce package seamless crescent dough (found in the refrigerator section)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Microwave spinach leaves in uncovered microwave-proof bowl on high 1-2 minutes, or until wilted. Blot excess moisture from spinach with paper towels.

Finely process spinach, artichokes, mayonnaise and garlic in manual food processor. Scrape the mixture into the bowl used to wilt spinach.

Finely dice pepper. Stir diced pepper, cheeses, and lemon pepper rub into spinach mixture.

Sprinkle flour over a cutting board; unroll dough onto floured board. If using regular refrigerated crescent roll dough, unroll dough onto floured board and firmly pinch seams.

With rolling pin, roll dough to an 11 x 14-inch rectangle and place on top of a mini-muffin pan. Using a pastry cutter or plastic knife, slice dough crosswise and lengthwise to make twenty-four squares.

Using a small scoop (about 1 1/2 Tablespoons), scoop filling into cups of dough. Bring filled dough corners up to the center of each cup.

Bake 11-13 minutes or until golden brown. Remove puffs from muffin pan.

Grilled Bacon Jalapeno Wraps

6 fresh jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, or cream cheese blended with cheddar or Tex-Mex cheese blend

12 slices bacon

Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat.

Spread cream cheese to fill jalapeno halves. Wrap with bacon. Secure with a toothpick.

Place on the grill and cook until bacon is crispy.