My mother didn’t believe in snacks. Before you offer even an iota of sympathy, you should know I wasn’t deprived. My mom came home from work and made dinners every night. Her thinking was: “If you’re hungry, have some melon balls.”

And so, as things tend to go, years later, I consider myself somewhat of a snack expert. But then I see my clients having Goldfish and Teddy Grahams because they don’t have “adult snacks'' in the house. Since it’s back to school time, here are some after school or after work snacks for adults:

Chips

Crunching is so satisfying. If you’re like me and would choose chips over cand, I have some suggestions. Siete makes great chips. They’re gluten free, dairy free and, most importantly, delicious. I’m partial to their Fuego flavor —they’re Dorito-esque and super satisfying. Honorable mention to Hippeas (made from chickpeas), Asha Pops and Quinn’s Almond butter filled gluten-free pretzels.

Jerky

Jerky has come a long way since the Slim Jim. And because it’s mainly protein, it’s a snack with staying powder. Our family’s favorite jerky (do all families have a favorite jerky?) is Truffle-O Soldier. If you’re not a fan of truffle, Field Trip makes a buffalo chicken jerky. For something more mild Vermont Smoke makes jerky sticks and Epic has the only salmon jerky that’s not fishy.

Cheese

For many reasons I am not vegan. One of those reasons is cheese. For portable cheese snacks I like Whisps, Parm Crisps and Moon Cheese. Cabot also makes what they call “cracker cuts," which are these thin cheddar squares. If you have issues with lactose, cheddar is one of the lowest lactose cheeses. You can have the single squares solo or on a cracker (Simple Mills and Fat Snax make good ones).

Chocolate

I recently summarized some low-sugar chocolate options (link) but Hu Kitchen, Lily’s and the Reese’s-esque EVOLUTION_18 collagen-containing Beaty Bites are all favorites.