Happy July 4th, my wonderful readers! Today, I have a special edition of the newsletter, as The Husband and I navigate our first holiday totally kid-less. In honor of her, I whipped up some of these grilled zucchini recipes. Because she’s vegetarian, and she would appreciate them. You can also substitute yellow squash for your zukes. (Maybe. Who knows with kids?)

The Kid went to live with her grandparents for the summer. Allowing her to go was a difficult decision, mostly because I want her back. One of the side effects of being Kid-less for the summer was that … pretty much all of my bills except the mortgage … reduced by 75%. Yes, you read that right. How one child amasses so much cost is beyond me.

The largest cost was food. For those of you with younger children, you have what I call “endless teenage stomach” to look forward to. This is the time of a teenager’s life that 99.99% of what they eat goes into making hormones, the output of which is acne and bad b.o.

Well, I am here to tell you that it doesn’t end when your child turns 20. In fact, “endless teenage stomach” turns into “endless adult-living-at-home stomach,” which will generally end right around the time that said adult must buy her own food, e.g. live in her first post-parent house.

One way to combat this food cost, even amid the insane grocery bill, is to grow your own veggies.* Even though she’s gone for the summer, I’ve planted several potato plants and other fall-harvest veggies. She has a love affair with potatoes, so I will reap some cost savings once she returns from Grandparent Land.

I harvested the first (and second and third) of my zucchini this week. Although they are not as giant as the ones we got at the old house, they are pretty big nonetheless.

Zukes make a great side dish, especially grilled. Of course, most food is great grilled. Or with bacon.

Without further ado, here is my recipe:

Summer Grilled Zucchini Recipes

Ya Basic

Cut a zucchini into 1-inch widths so they look like round discs. Add 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil. Season with freshly ground sea salt and pepper. Grill on medium-low heat until you can stick a fork through it.

Variations

• Cook the zucchini discs like a pizza, e.g. put cheese, sauce, pepperoni, etc. on top while grilling.
• Or just put a bit of fresh mozzarella on top. Yum.
• Microwave 1 tablespoon butter, add panko bread crumbs, and put on top of the zuke discs with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
• Make the zucchini into boats (requires parboiling first) and stuff with hamburger and rice.
• Make caprese zukes: mozzarella cheese, basil, and a tomato.

* The Kid is vegetarian, which also helps deflate food costs because she will eat the vegetables I grow.

The Book Promos

Hanging House: An Emmie Rose Haunted Mystery Book 1 is free on the Kindle Unlimited. This book sounds awesome. What could be better than a very reluctant psychic, who sees dead children, solving an unsolved murder? Totally awesome, folks.

Group Promos

Get some free books, y’all.

• Free Chills. Enough said.
• Supernaturally Yours. If some free chills aren’t enough, then get some ghost in your life.
• Spooky Giveaway. It’s like Halloween in July.
• Fantastic. Mysteries and fantasy. And lots of them.
• Free Beach Blanket Reads. You’ll find a little bit of a lot here.

Happenings

As you can tell, I’m changing up my newsletter a bit. That’s because I decided on a new direction. I’m currently in the works of revamping my website and social medias, which include this newsletter. Thanks so much for being patient with me!