I usually don't use hardwood mulch around my veggies. Shredded newspaper or composted leaves. But mostly because I'm a tightwad - and those things are free.
I'd change that second question to how many times per WEEK, not per day.
I'll water plants in containers once a week. But plants in the garden - properly mulched - if I get a good rain once a week, they don't need extra water at all. If there's no rain, a nice, deep soak twice a week is fine.
Watering once a day says you're not watering deep enough....The water will mostly stay in the top 4 to 6 inches of soil. That will train your plants to keep their roots near the surface - where the water is - which will make them even MORE susceptible to drought in the future. Infrequently deep watering is much better than frequent shallow watering.