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A bowl of fall, packed with mushroomy goodness This week, I'm sharing five fall soup recipes that are warm and comforting for the cooler days ahead. Next up: this delicious cream of mushroom soup that beats anything from a can. "Mushrooms are the best!" -ME This recipe brings together a few undeniably delicious ingredients like mushrooms, fresh herbs, garlic, and my personal favorite, a shallot, that create a rich melody of fall flavors. Too good. EARTHY AND HERBY, CREAMY MUSHROOM SOUP (4-5 side servings or 2-3 big bowls) Ingredients As always, feel free to mix it up and cook with your heart! 16 oz of mushrooms (I used baby bella and white) 1 shallot, diced 2 cloves of garlic, minced 2 teaspoons of fresh herbs (I used 1 each of thyme and sage) (alternatively, 1 1/2 teaspoons of dried herbs) 2 tablespoons of butter 2 tablespoons of flour 1/2 a cup of dry white wine 32 oz of veggie or mushroom stock 1/2 cup of half-and-half or heavy cream Salt and pepper to taste Directions Wash and slice mushrooms. Chop 1 shallot. Mince sage, thyme (or your herbs of choice) and garlic. Melt two tablespoons of butter in a pot and sauté shallots, mushrooms and garlic for 12-15 minutes on medium heat. Season with salt while cooking. Sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of flour. Let this cook for 2 minutes. Pour in a 1/2 cup of wine to deglaze. Let the wine cook for 1 minute while scraping the bottom of the pot. Add in 32 oz of veggie or mushroom stock, along with thyme and sage, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes uncovered. Move 3/4 of the soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Or, remove 1/4 of the soup and blend the remaining soup in the pot with an immersion blender until smooth. Return all the soup back to the pot. It should be smooth with whole mushroom slices mixed throughout. Pour in a 1/2 cup of half and half or heavy cream. Simmer lightly uncovered for 10 minutes, until thickened. Check for seasoning and serve. Check out the rest of my fall soups from this week: Creamy Chicken Italian Sausage and Gnocchi Soup Shortcut Chicken and Sausage Gumbo French Shallot Soup Thai Green Curry Noodle Soup Did you make this? Let me know how it turned out in the comments!

Would you believe this only took me 30 minutes? I love cooking. I really do. I don't mind spending hours in the kitchen creating something. However, I'm in college. Maybe like you, I don't always have the time to spend. Or maybe you just don't want to. That doesn't mean that you can't still cook something delicious and exciting! The key is using ingredients that do the tough work for you. The star of this recipe is Trader Joe's Pesto Chicken Breast. This recipe would be good with plain chicken instead of pesto, sure, but the complex, pesto-marinated chicken takes this flatbread to the next level. All you have to do is throw it in a pan, cook it and shred it. ALFREDO FLATBREAD WITH PESTO CHICKEN INGREDIENTS This recipe makes two flatbreads. 1 package of TJ's Pesto Chicken Breast 1 package of TJ's Pizza Crust 1 jar of TJ's Alfredo Pasta Sauce TJ's Crimini Mushrooms to taste, thinly sliced TJ's Fresh Basil to taste, chiffonade cut TJ's Quattro Formaggi to taste Fresh garlic, minced Cracked black pepper and red pepper flakes, to taste I topped my flatbread with mushrooms and basil, but get creative! DIRECTIONS (VIDEO BELOW) Preheat your oven to 425°. Cook Trader Joe's Pesto Chicken Breasts for about 4 minutes on each side. Set aside to cool. Prep your other toppings, like washing and thinly slicing the mushrooms and basil. Shred the chicken once it's cool. It's time to assemble! On a large sheet pan, brush both sides of the crusts with olive oil. Spread a generous layer of the alfredo sauce and top with minced garlic, the shredded Pesto Chicken, mushrooms, basil, cheese, a sprinkle of black pepper and red pepper flakes, or your choice of toppings. Measure with your heart. Bake for around 6 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and lightly toasted. Enjoy! (This post was sponsored by Trader Joe's. As always, I only work with brands I truly love, like TJ's! P.S. Trader Joe's, I love you. I'm your biggest fan.)

Simple, quick, but so delicious. Dinner is already ready. Tomatoes are hit or miss with me. Sun-dried tomatoes are always approved, though, and they pair so well with goat cheese. Orzo pasta is perfect for dinners that are so decadent that you wouldn't believe they were made in 20 minutes. Altogether, this creamy, tangy one-pot pasta will become one of your weeknight staples. You can make this as a side dish, but I love to brown uncased Trader Joe's chicken Italian sausage in the pot before cooking. I remove it before I follow the steps below and toss it back in with the goat cheese. You can apply the same steps to any sausage or bite-sized protein. ONE-POT ORZO WITH GOAT CHEESE AND SUNDRIED TOMATOES INGREDIENTS I'm a college student, so I'm usually cooking for one! Here are the ingredients for one serving, but you can easily scale it. a drizzle of olive oil 1-2 teaspoons of sun-dried tomato oil half of a medium onion or 1 small shallot 1 clove of minced garlic 2 tablespoons of chopped sundried tomatoes (about 3 whole) 1/2 a teaspoon of Calabrian chilis (optional) 1/2 a cup of dried orzo pasta 1-1/4 cup of liquid (water, chicken stock, broth, bullion) seasonings of choice 1oz of goat cheese DIRECTIONS (VIDEO BELOW) Dice the onion, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes. Meanwhile, heat olive oil and sun-dried tomato oil on medium heat. Sauté onions for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Add in dried orzo and Calabrian chilis (optional) and toast for 1 minute. Pour in your liquid of choice. Start with 1 cup (multiplied by your number of servings) Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Add in your seasonings of choice. I use salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried basil and dried oregano. Bring the pot to a boil. Cover and reduce to medium-low heat. Simmer for 11-13 minutes while stirring regularly. Add extra liquid if the pasta becomes too dry. Once the orzo is fully cooked, stir in goat cheese. This recipe is the perfect side dish. It's great with crispy chicken cutlets. Or, you could grill chicken strips or Italian sausage in the pot before you start cooking and mix it back in with the goat cheese.

This is my go-to when I want a simple and well-rounded dinner! This is the kind of recipe where swapping ingredients is encouraged. Of course, you may have to experiment with cooking times, but you could do this with different types of fish and veggies, like cod or tilapia instead of salmon and brussels sprouts instead of green beans. If you're in college, like me, understanding how to make a simple dish like this one can unlock endless possibilities on your usual meal rotation. MISO SALMON WITH ROASTED PURPLE SWEET POTATOES & GREEN BEANS INGREDIENTS As always, here's a guideline, but measure with your heart. 2 salmon filets 1 bag (12 oz) of green beans 1 purple sweet potato 3 cloves of garlic, grated or minced 3 tablespoons of olive oil Seasonings of choice 1 inch of ginger, grated 2 tablespoons of light miso 1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil Honey to taste Step 1: Prep & Cook Veggies Preheat your oven to 400 °F. Mix olive oil, 2 gloves of grated garlic, and your seasonings of choice. Spread the potatoes (diced into bite-sized pieces) and green beans in an even layer on a sheet pan. Evenly coat the potatoes and green beans with olive oil mixture. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Step 2: Prep Salmon While the potatoes and green beans are roasting, mix grated ginger, miso paste, soy sauce, sesame oil, and honey. Add water a teaspoon at a time for a looser consistency, if desired. Remove the salmon skin (optional). Pat the salmon dry and place it into a baking dish. Pour the miso marinade over the salmon. Step 3: Cook Salmon Remove the veggies after 15 minutes or keep them in the oven for a few minutes (max 7 minutes) with the salmon if you like them softer? roastier? more tender? This is what I do, but it depends on how you like your veggies cooked. Raise the oven temperature to 425 °F, and cook the salmon filets for 15 minutes (or until fully cooked). Use the leftover marinade in the salmon dish as a sauce. Enjoy! Feel free to use this general outline with different marinades, proteins, and veggies. I'd love to hear if you made this or hear how you mixed it up below!

Have a closet full of statements and no staples? Same, but we're working on it. Here's what you need. You know when you're shopping and you see a really cute and loud skirt (or whatever), and you're like "okay, but what would I wear this with?" You buy it anyway because you lack self-control, but then you get home and realize you really don't have anything to wear it with. Now your closet is an in-cohesive blob of pink feathers and sparkles. No more. I usually hate buying basics because I want them to be high quality to last, but it's not fun spending a lot of money on a white t-shirt. That's where Garage comes in. Here are a few inexpensive but long-lasting pieces to get you started. Shop Garage's new arrivals and more basics here: https://actv.at/K9f/59076 . STORMI TEE IN WHITE: https://actv.at/PZC/69556 Taylor Swift did not write a song about Harry Styles' white t-shirt for nothing. Jeans and a white tee are always stylish. Well, almost always. For example, going to, like, a baseball game with no preference for who wins? Jeans and this t-shirt. So neutral. So easy to bandwagon the winning team. STELLA SEAMLESS PLUNGE TANK IN BLACK: https://actv.at/Q5q/69798 Next time you want to throw on sweatpants and a t-shirt, swap it for this instead (or wear the tee, I bet it's really cute, too). I love cropped little tanks like this one, but I don't like how thin and flimsy they are. This tank is stretchy and soft enough to be comfortable but thick enough to feel secure in. CAROLINE LONG SLEEVED POLO IN BLACK: https://actv.at/PTP/69314 "What are you wearing tonight?" "Jeans and a cute top!" "Thanks?" If you're like me, you and your friends have this conversation before every event and show up in different vibes. This shirt isn't going to fix that, but here's another top to throw into your "cute top!" rotation. It's also very Elena Gilbert-core. V-WAIST ACTIVE FLARE LEGGING IN RAIN FOREST: https://actv.at/PP1/69072 This isn't a basic. I just bought it at the same time as the other pieces, so I thought I'd throw it in here. Alternatively, here's a perfect statement pair of leggings to go with your new basic tops. I really thought of it all for you. I have a try-on haul of all of these pieces up on my TikTok! Check it out here: https://www.tiktok.com/@jillian.blair . **Disclosure: I am a Garage Ambassador, and these are affiliate links, meaning I may get a little commission if you use these links!**

This recipe helped me make friends my freshman year of college . . . seriously. If risotto is on the menu, I've always ordered it. Even if I don't like what it comes with. Even if it has something I don't really like in it. I like it today. With this in mind, my parents brought home a bag of arborio rice a few years ago to try and cook risotto with. Turns out, it's not as difficult as it may seem. In fact, it's my go-to simple recipe when I have friends over. I made this for a few of my friends when I first moved to college. I think they stick around for the next time I make this risotto. CREAMY MUSHROOM RISOTTO INGREDIENTS This is one of those recipes where you really measure with your heart, but here's an estimate for what you'll need. 2 shallots 3 (or 4, 5, or 10) cloves of garlic 2 boxes of mushrooms (today I used shiitake and oyster) 2 tablespoons of butter 1 tablespoon of olive oil Seasonings of your choice I normally use salt, black pepper, garlic powder, Trader Joe's Mushroom & Company Umami Seasoning Blend, and red pepper flakes. Herbs of your choice I used fresh thyme (kind of non-negotiable) and dried rosemary. 1 cup of arborio rice 3-4 cups of chicken stock 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese A few splashes of half & half or whatever dairy you're feeling (optional) Directions Prep all of your ingredients by dicing the shallots and grating (or mincing) the garlic. Dice half of the mushrooms into finer pieces and slice the other half for a varied texture. Saute shallots and garlic in a few tablespoons of butter and olive oil. Once they're soft, add in the mushrooms and seasonings. Once the mushrooms have reduced in size and most of their moisture has evaporated, add in your arborio rice, mix, and toast the rice for 2-3 minutes over medium-low heat. Add in part of your warm chicken stock, enough to cover the rice (around 1/3), and bring to a boil. Once the rice has absorbed the stock, add in more. Keep repeating this process until the rice is fully cooked, tender, and has absorbed most or all of the stock. Stir in cheese and any other dairy you want to add. This time, I used half and half. Taste for seasonings, and serve with a sprinkle of parmesan and thyme. Once you learn one risotto recipe, you can adapt it into whatever you want! Get creative!