Week Three: Into the Air Fryer
This week, we’re trying something a little different in how we cook rather than what we cook. Most of this week’s meals are going through the air fryer — a method that’s faster, uses less oil, and produces a satisfying crunch that the oven sometimes struggles to match.
Five of this week’s meals come from Air Fryer Express by George Georgievski — a cookbook well worth having if you’re getting to know your air fryer. The other two are family staples we’ve put our own spin on.
From a Parkinson’s perspective, this week is an interesting one. Air frying generally uses less added fat than pan frying or deep frying, and the meals tend to cook faster and stay lighter. Whether that makes any difference to how hubby’s medication performs is exactly what we’re watching for.
Same ingredients, different method — and sometimes that’s enough to change everything.
About the Cookbook
Air Fryer Express by George Georgievski is the source for five of this week’s recipes. George’s recipes are straightforward, family-friendly, and written specifically for the air fryer — which means timings and temperatures are spot on rather than adapted from oven recipes. Highly recommended if you’re looking to get more out of your air fryer.
This Week’s Menu
| Dinner | Source | Notes for Parkinson’s Observation | |
| 🍗 | Guilt-free Nashville Fried Chicken | Air Fryer Express | Fried chicken without the deep fryer — less oil, still crispy. Good test for how lighter cooking affects medication. |
| 🍗 | OMG Chicken! | Air Fryer Express | The name says it all. Curious to see if the enthusiasm is warranted and how it sits with the tablets. |
| 🍔 | Burger with the Lot | Air Fryer Express | Air-fried patty vs last week’s pan-fried version — a useful comparison. |
| 🥖 | Meatball Sub | Air Fryer Express | Higher carb with the bread roll. Protein from meatballs — worth watching timing. |
| 🍝 | Lasagne | Air Fryer Express | Interesting to see how lasagne performs in the air fryer. Layers of protein and carb together. |
| 🍟 | Loaded Fries | Family recipe | Beef, cheese, bacon, onion, sauce of choice. Higher protein topping on a carb base. |
| 🌭 | Hot Dog | Family recipe | Light and simple. Lower protein load — good comparison data point. |
Our Own Recipes This Week
🍟 Loaded Fries
This one is pure comfort food and always goes down well. The beauty of loaded fries is that everyone can customise their own with their sauce of choice.
Ingredients
- Frozen chips or fresh-cut fries
- 500g beef mince, browned and seasoned
- Bacon pieces, cooked
- Cheese, grated (generous amount)
- 1 onion, diced and cooked
- Sauce of your choice — BBQ, tomato, sour cream, or all of the above
Method
- Cook fries in the air fryer until golden and crispy.
- While fries cook, brown mince and onion together; cook bacon separately.
- Pile fries into a bowl or onto a plate, top with mince, bacon, and onion.
- Cover generously with cheese — you can pop back in the air fryer briefly to melt it.
- Finish with sauce of your choice and serve immediately.
🌭 Hot Dog
A simple, reliable dinner that the kids are always happy with. We keep it straightforward.
Ingredients
- Frankfurts
- Hot dog buns
- Toppings and sauces of your choice
Method
- Cook frankfurts in the air fryer at 180°C for 6–8 minutes, turning once.
- Serve in a bun — use scissors to open the bun cleanly.
- Add toppings and sauces.
Tip: to reduce bread, serve one frankfurt in a roll and one on the side with dipping sauce.
Due to commitments, the OMG Chicken and the Lasagne didn’t get made this week — both have been pushed to next week.
The Guilt-free Nashville Fried Chicken was fine, but not one I would make again. It was also not the easiest to pick off the bone, which makes it more difficult for hubby to manage. So that one is off the list going forward.
The Meatball Sub and Hamburgers are always a favourite — no surprises there. I cut them in half to make them easier to hold, which helps. There was some extended downtime after both, but that’s the protein at work rather than anything unexpected.
Hot Dogs we already knew were safe from previous experience. This was the first time making them in the air fryer though, and I have to say I prefer it over boiling — a much better result. That’s a keeper.
Part of an ongoing series tracking diet and Parkinson’s medication response.