This week’s menu, curated by J

Week Eight: J Takes Over

This week the menu is entirely J’s doing. Every meal on the list was her choice — from Taco Tuesday (obviously) to a Quinoa Patty recipe she brought home from Food Tech at school. It’s a good mix of family favourites and something new, which is exactly how a menu should look.

The Quinoa Patties are the highlight of the week from a cooking perspective — a recipe J learned at school and wanted to bring to the family table. The recipe makes enough for two so we will be doubling it up. It will be interesting to see how they go down and how they sit with the Parkinson’s medication given the different protein profile.

Pizza night also gets a run this week — homemade dough, two versions. Hubby gets his egg on top, J and the rest of us get meat lovers with a BBQ swirl after cooking.

This Week’s Menu

This Week’s Menu

	Dinner	Source	Notes for Parkinson’s Observation
🌮	Tacos	Family recipe	Taco Tuesday — J’s non-negotiable. A reliable known baseline.
🍝	Spaghetti Bolognese	Family recipe	Made with leftover store-bought pasta this week. Slight delay compared to homemade but smaller portion so probably comparable.
🎃 / 🍟	Pumpkin Soup (boys) — Nachos (J and I)	Family recipe	Split dinner — stretched over two nights. Hubby’s soup light and easy on the tablets.
🍝	Pesto Pasta with Chicken Schnitzel	Family recipe	Store-bought pesto and pasta. Moderate protein from schnitzel. No issues.
🥡	Takeaway	Busy night	Life happens!
🍳	Fend for Yourself Night	Everyone’s choice	Hubby had eggs on toast — slight extended down period noted.
🍕	Pizza Night	Moved to next week	Not made this week.
🥙	Quinoa Patties	Moved to next week	Not made this week.
🍟	Loaded Fries	Moved to next week	Not made this week.

The Recipes This Week

🌮 Tacos

Taco Tuesday. Non-negotiable. J has made this very clear. 😄

Ingredients

• 500g beef mince
• 1 onion, diced
• Taco shells or soft tortillas
• Salsa
• Sour cream and cheese to serve

Homemade Taco Seasoning

• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp chilli powder or chilli flakes
• ½ tsp salt

Method

1. Brown mince and onion with a little salt.
2. Add taco seasoning and 2–3 teaspoons of salsa. Cook through.
3. Heat taco shells and serve with toppings of your choice.

Tip: Alternative serving idea: bowl with mince, salsa and cheese, with quartered tortilla pieces as edible cutlery.

🍝 Pesto Pasta with Chicken Schnitzel

Simple, quick, and always a hit.

Ingredients

• Spiral pasta
• 1 jar pesto
• Chicken schnitzels (store-bought)
• Optional: shredded cheese to serve

Method

• Cook pasta according to packet instructions.
• While pasta is cooking, cook chicken schnitzels in a pan or oven.
• Drain pasta and return to the pot.
• Stir through pesto until well coated.
• Serve pasta with chicken schnitzel on top and cheese if using.

🍟 Nachos

While hubby has his pumpkin soup, J and I have nachos. Simple, customisable, and always satisfying.

Ingredients

• Corn chips of your choice
• Salsa
• Cheese, grated
• Sour cream (optional)
• Optional extras: mince and onion with taco seasoning, avocado

Method

• Spread corn chips on a baking tray or oven-safe plate.
• Top with salsa and cheese.
• Add mince if using.
• Grill or bake until cheese is melted and bubbling.
• Top with sour cream and avocado and serve immediately.

🥙 Quinoa Patties

J’s Food Tech recipe, now making its debut at the family table. This recipe makes enough for two, so we double it for the family.

Ingredients (serves 2 — double for family)

• ⅓ cup dry quinoa
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of lemon pepper
• ½ tbsp chopped parsley
• ¼ small onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• ¼ cup breadcrumbs
• ¼ carrot, grated
• ¼ zucchini, grated
• 1 tbsp oil

Dipping Sauce

• 2 tbsp Kewpie mayo
• 1 tsp Sriracha
• 1 tsp tomato sauce

Method

1. Cook quinoa according to packet instructions and allow to cool slightly.
2. Combine quinoa, eggs, salt, lemon pepper, parsley, onion, parmesan, garlic, breadcrumbs, carrot and zucchini in a bowl. Mix well.
3. Form into patties.
4. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat.
5. Cook patties 3–4 minutes each side until golden and cooked through.
6. Mix dipping sauce ingredients together and serve alongside.

Note: Recipe courtesy of J’s Food Tech class. Well done J!

🍟 Loaded Fries

Pure comfort food and always popular. Everyone customises 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 — pop back in the air fryer briefly to melt if needed.
• Finish with sauce of your choice and serve immediately.

🍕 Pizza Night

Homemade dough, two versions. This is a proper pizza night.

Hubby’s Pizza — Egg on Top

• Homemade pizza dough
• Pizza sauce
• Ham, sliced
• Bacon pieces
• Cheese, generous handful
• 1 egg, broken on top before baking

Meat Lovers (J and everyone else)

• Homemade pizza dough
• Pizza sauce
• Ham, sliced
• Bacon pieces
• Pepperoni or salami
• Cheese, generous handful
• BBQ sauce — swirled on top after cooking

Method

• Spread pizza sauce over the dough.
• Layer ham and bacon over the sauce. Add pepperoni or salami for the meat lovers version.
• Add a generous handful of cheese.
• For hubby’s pizza: make a small well in the centre of the cheese and break an egg into it.
• Bake per dough instructions until cheese is golden (and egg white is just set for hubby’s).
• For the meat lovers: swirl BBQ sauce over the top straight out of the oven.

Observations — J’s Choice Week

Life got busy this week, so three meals from the menu — the Quinoa Patties, Loaded Fries, and Pizza Night — didn’t make it. They will be rolling over to next week. Instead we had a takeaway night, the pumpkin soup and nachos stretched across two evenings, and a fend for yourself night.

Overall it was a smooth week for the medication. The meals that did get made — tacos, spaghetti bolognese, pesto pasta with schnitzel, and pumpkin soup with nachos — all performed as expected with no significant issues. Worth noting that the spaghetti bolognese this week used leftover store-bought pasta from the mac and cheese and pesto pasta nights rather than fresh homemade pasta. There was a slight delay compared to homemade pasta nights, but given that the pasta portion was on the smaller side it is probably a comparable result overall. Not a fair test either way, but interesting to note.

The fend for yourself night brought a small observation — hubby chose eggs on toast, which caused a slightly extended down period. Not surprising, but worth noting as another data point on eggs and tablet timing.

There were also a couple of dessert observations worth adding to the record. Mini ice creams on a stick from Aldi one night caused a slight delay — the dairy again, consistent with what we have been seeing. And a second serving of chocolate cake caused some delays too. The dairy pattern continues to be one of the clearest and most consistent findings from this whole experiment. It is not about avoiding dairy entirely, but being mindful of quantity and timing.

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