Our Coach, Hannah, is a ride or die Trader Joe’s shopper. She likes their produce section, their marinated meats and loves trying the new items they drop throughout the year. Her favorite is the drop of the seasonal pumpkin items every fall. Check out below to see some of her Trader Joe’s must-haves.

Pumpkin Coffee

We are all about the fall flavors at TMN and love a good PSL just as much as the next fall-loving millennial. However, Starbucks is pricey and many of their coffees have more added sugars than we care to consume on a daily basis. That is where this pumpkin spice blend from Trader Joe’s comes in. It is delicious! We have brewed it hot and have brewed it iced and it is amazing both ways. We love to top it with this pumpkin whipped cream from Target along with a dash of pumpkin pie spice.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread

Trader Joe’s has released this every year for as long as we can remember and every year it ends up in our shopping cart. You can probably make a cream cheese frosting with it or some other fancy recipe, but we just like to smear it on a whole wheat English muffin with turkey bacon and fruit on the side. Regardless of what you decide to do with it, we definitely recommend trying it.

Pumpkin Pancake and Waffle Mix

When it comes to packaged pancake mix, a lot of the TMN dietitians are fans of the Kodiak mixes. Now that it is fall, we are reaching for this pumpkin pancake and waffle mix instead. One thing to be mindful of is a lower protein content, so be sure to pair the pancakes with a breakfast protein you enjoy. Pro tip: our favorite way to enjoy this is with a smear of peanut butter, crushed walnuts, diced apples and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Pumpkin Overnight Oats

Many of our TMN clients are busy women with children, careers and often both. These busy bees are out there crushing it and sometimes need quick breakfast options (that are also nourishing) to do so. These pumpkin overnight oats are perfect to throw in your bag and eat in carpool or on your way to work. Like the pancake mix, these are lower in protein. They are also only 200 calories, which is a bit low for a meal. If you are going to enjoy these as a meal, we recommend bulking them up a bit with nuts or a nut butter.

Autumn Harvest Creamy Pasta Sauce

Finally, a savory item to add to our list! We first tried this when we noticed it on the shelves last year and loved it so much that we bought several jars when it hit the shelves this year. This sauce can be used in a lot of different ways- the base of a pizza, paired with TJ’s pumpkin ravioli or in a pumpkin sausage skillet. For the skillet we simply saute three bell peppers in a pan and add in sliced pre-cooked chicken sausage. Once the peppers are cooked add the pasta sauce and stir. We like to serve this over brown rice!