Super Easy Teriyaki Sautéed Mushrooms

This is an incredibly quick, easy, and DELICIOUS way to prepare a batch of sautéed mushrooms to use as a topping on just about anything! It is also extremely inexpensive and the ingredients are likely things you already have in your refrigerator.

I like to put these teriyaki mushrooms on veggie burgers, but I also love them in a rice bowl or noodles, or with other vegetables.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 clove fresh garlic, smashed and finely chopped

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon Teriyaki sauce (such as Mr. Yoshida’s)

1 tablespoon red cooking wine

Black pepper to taste

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil together. When everything is melted and it starts to get a little bubbly, add in your fresh garlic and stir quickly. Never let your garlic burn.

2. Immediately add the fresh mushrooms and sauté to let the mushrooms cook a little bit. About a minute or two. They will shrink down slightly.

3. Once the mushrooms are starting to get hot, add in the red wine and teriyaki sauce. You can add extra teriyaki sauce if you like. When the sauce starts to bubble, turn the heat down to simmer. Gently stir everything for about 4 more minutes.  Add some fresh ground black pepper to taste.

4. Use the mushrooms immediately, or let them cool to store in the refrigerator for later use. 

Easy and Cheap 7 Can Vegetarian Chili Soup

This extremely quick, simple, and cheap recipe for chili soup is what we crave on cold rainy nights.  It's inexpensive and goes a long way.  It's based on the Pioneer Woman's meat-based recipe, but I've tweaked it with my own flair as a vegetarian dish and I've added a few extras.  You could definitely adapt this to be vegan if you wanted, I think.  But my version does have some dairy in it.

Ingredients:
1 can black beans
1 can white (northern or navy) beans
1 can red kidney beans (light or dark red)
1 can vegetarian chili
1 can Rotel tomatoes, original flavor
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can corn
8 ounces Velveeta (or substitute), divided into several small chunks
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 TBL olive oil or butter to saute

Steps:
1. Over medium heat in a large pot, saute the chopped onion in some oil and cook thoroughly or carmelize as golden as you prefer.
2. Add the chopped garlic.
3. Add the contents of all the cans.  DO NOT DRAIN THE CANS.  Just add every bit of what's in each can.  The liquid in the cans becomes part of your soup.  Every drop is used in this recipe and nothing is wasted.
4. Let it all get hot and start to bubble a little.  Then, add the Velveeta and stir until it's all melted together.
5. Serve when it turns into a beautiful orange soup.  You can top with a little sour cream and chopped green onions if you're feeling festive.

That's it! So easy.  So quick. So tasty.

You could leave out the Velveeta if you wanted to avoid dairy and it would still be tasty.
You could also add a can of green chiles, or use Fiesta style corn for variety.  The beans could also be changed for some other canned beans, if desired. Like navy, for instance.
I also sometimes add a chopped up veggie burger, to make it more "meaty" and chili-like.

See photos below!

The basic recipe ingredients

Saute onions until caramelized

Add garlic and start adding in the cans' contents.  Don't drain the cans. Use every drop.

Veggie chili

Black beans

Northern beans

Light red kidney beans

Sweet golden corn

Chopped up grilled Boca "turk'y" burger from yesterday

Throw in the Velveeta (this was the generic store version, "Nice N' Cheesy")

A few minutes later, it becomes a beautiful, zippy, orange-colored chili soup that will thaw the coldest of hearts on a rainy night.

Easy Blackberry Cobbler

I found this recipe after blackberries completely took over our yard and left it looking like a "Life After People" documentary.  I needed a way to use the berries, after all the trouble they'd caused us.  We collected a bunch of the ripe berries before taking down all of the vines.  This recipe is so simple and easy, and oh my...so good.  Don't forget to put a little vanilla ice cream on top when you serve it.  
Theoretically, you could make someone fall in love with you, using this cobbler.  It is just that dangerous.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt, maybe a tiny bit more.

2/3 cup milk

1/2 butter (1 stick)

16 ounces blackberries, fresh or frozen, cleaned and drained.

1. In a 2-quart baking dish, melt the butter.

2. In a separate bowl, mix all of the ingredients except the berries.

3. Carefully pour the batter over the melted butter in the baking dish. DO NOT STIR - you are gently layering it on top.

4. Add the berries on top of the batter, dotting them evenly over the whole thing.  (As it cooks, the berries will sink down and the batter will rise over them and cover them.  It's kind of miraculous how perfectly it happens.  See my picture below.)

5. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 40 minutes, or until the crust turns a golden brown.

***For extra flavor, I added a pinch of ground cloves and a few drops of vanilla extract to the batter.