Whatever Tool Fits the Meal

Week Four: No Rules, Just Results

This week, there is no single cooking method, no single cookbook, and no single theme — other than cooking whatever way makes the most sense for each meal. Air fryer, oven, stovetop, slow cooker, foil packet — this week uses the lot.

We also have two meals carrying over from last week’s air fryer lineup — the OMG Chicken and the Lasagne — with commitments, meaning we didn’t get to them. They’re in the rotation this week where they belong.

The highlight of the week from a planning perspective is the slow cooker bolognese. Made in bulk from Once a Month Cooking by Jody Allen, it pulls double duty: spaghetti bolognese the night it’s made, and toasted sandwiches from the leftovers later in the week. One cook, two meals — and with homemade pasta for the spaghetti bolognese night, we already know the medication response should be a good one.

Cook once, eat well twice.

This Week’s Menu

	Dinner	Source	Notes for Parkinson’s Observation
🍗	OMG Chicken!	Air Fryer Express	Carried over from last week. Air fryer, higher protein — curious to finally see how this one sits with the tablets.
🍝	Lasagne	Air Fryer Express	Also carried over. Layers of protein and carb together in the air fryer — worth watching timing.
🍟	Cheesy Chicken Fajita Rice Bake	taste.com.au	Oven bake. Rice absorbs the stock as it cooks — a carb and protein combination in one dish.
🍛	Butter Chicken Naan Toasties	taste.com.au	Stovetop toastie. Higher carb with the naan. Butter chicken sauce is creamy — interesting to observe.
🔥	Hobo Dinner	Family recipe	Foil packet in the oven — patty, potato, onion, carrot. Simple and contained. Good moderate protein night.
🍝	Slow Cook Bolognese → Spaghetti Bolognese	Once a Month Cooking — Jody Allen	Bulk slow cooker bolognese, served with homemade pasta. We already know homemade pasta works well with the tablets.
🥪	Toasted Sandwiches — leftover bolognese	Family recipe	Leftovers from the bolognese night. Lower carb load than pasta — good comparison for the same mince base.

About This Week’s Sources

Air Fryer Express — George Georgievski

Two more recipes from this excellent air fryer cookbook. If you’ve been following along you’ll know we’ve been cooking from this one since week three — it’s earning its spot on the shelf.

taste.com.au

Two recipes from taste.com.au this week — the Cheesy Chicken Fajita Rice Bake and the Butter Chicken Naan Toasties. Both are linked in the menu table above. Taste is a reliable go-to for weeknight recipes that actually work.

Once a Month Cooking — Jody Allen

The slow cooker bolognese comes from Once a Month Cooking by Jody Allen — a cookbook built around bulk cooking and making your time in the kitchen go further. If you’re interested in cooking in batches and getting multiple meals from a single cook-up, this one is worth having. The bolognese recipe is a bulk batch, which is exactly why it stretches across two dinners this week.

Our Own Recipes This Week

🔥 Hobo Dinner

A foil packet dinner that does all the work in the oven. Everything goes in together, the foil traps the steam, and you end up with tender meat and vegetables with very little effort. A great one for nights when you don’t want to stand over a stove.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 500g beef mince, salt and pepper \u2014 mixed and formed into 4 patties
• 4–6 potatoes, sliced
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2–3 carrots, sliced
• Salt and pepper
• Optional: a knob of butter on top before sealing

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Lay a large sheet of foil on a flat surface.
3. Layer potato, onion and carrot in the centre.
4. Place the patty on top. Season well with salt and pepper.
5. Add butter if using.
6. Fold the foil up and seal tightly into a packet.
7. Place on a baking tray and bake for 45–60 minutes until the potato is tender and the patty is cooked through.
8. Open carefully — the steam inside is very hot.

🥖 Toasted Sandwiches with Leftover Bolognese

One of the best things about a bulk bolognese is what you do with the leftovers. Toasted sandwiches with bolognese filling are a completely different meal from spaghetti, but they use the same base. Comfort food at its most efficient.

Ingredients

• Leftover bolognese, warmed through
• Bread of your choice — sourdough works especially well, or homemade if you have it
• Cheese, grated or sliced
• Butter for the outside of the bread

Method

• Butter the outside of each slice of bread.
• Spoon a generous layer of bolognese onto the unbuttered side.
• Add cheese on top of the bolognese.
• Top with the second slice, buttered side out.
• Cook in a sandwich press or frying pan until golden and the cheese has melted.
• Cut in half and serve immediately.

Tip: don’t overfill — a generous layer is perfect but too much and it gets messy fast.

Part of an ongoing series tracking diet and Parkinson’s medication response.

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Observations

The best laid plans can always be changed. The OMG Chicken got bumped again — we were given some pork chops and cooked those instead, which was a very welcome swap. The bolognese toasties also changed to chicken, cheese and mayo sandwiches. Both good decisions as it turned out.

The Cheesy Chicken Fajita Rice Bake was fine, but it was one of those been-there, done-that meals — not one we would make again. The Butter Chicken Naan Toasties on the other hand, were a hit. Just be prepared for a bit of a mess if you use a sandwich press. Worth it though.

I also made passionfruit sorbet one evening for dessert, alongside a lemon jelly that J made. A good week in the kitchen overall.

As for the medication, we seem to be cruising along nicely. The one exception was a slightly extended down period after the rice bake, but that was expected — it had a bit more dairy than usual, which we know can affect it. Nothing surprising, just something to note.