Cooking for a professional football player, even a retired one, has some interesting consequences.

"We don't have very many leftovers," says Kris Arneson, whose husband, Mark, was a linebacker on the St. Louis Cardinals from 1972-1980.

The couple married while still in college at the University of Arizona. Their subsequent life in professional football was great fun in those days, she recalls, but it wasn't anywhere near the financial gravy train it became in subsequent decades. When Mark retired, he went into the building business.

"But we met lots of nice people and had some really good years with (former Big Red coach) Don Coryell," Kris says. "We still get together with lots of the team — the (now-Arizona) Cardinals have been very sweet and have invited us to sit together in a suite at the game against the Rams Sept. 12."

The Arnesons' daughter Emily, 27, is a childhood cancer survivor, which is how Kris got involved with the support group Friends of Kids With Cancer.

"I coordinate volunteers for events and am secretary of the board of directors," she says.

Whenever she cooks halibut, it's the catch Mark has made on trips to Alaska. She adapted her recipe for Baked Halibut from a recipe a friend gave her.

"Halibut isn't the most flavorful of fish, so I added various things to it," Kris says.

Mark Arneson hasn't blitzed any quarterbacks for many years, but he still has a linebacker's appetite, so Kris tends to use generous portion sizes in her recipes.

"He's pretty lucky," she says. "He can still eat a lot and not gain any weight."