Not sure where you are, but there are olive presses scattered throughout California. You go there with your load, and they will give you the oil (and keep the pomace as well as some of your money). An olive press is much more complex and expensive than an apple press. It will be 10 years before you are up to 30-40 lbs of olives per tree per year (and those 100 lbs will give you only 10-20 lbs of oil, which is very little. My family of three uses 30-35 lbs a year. If you do the pressing yourself, you may only get 5-10 lbs). In the intervening time, I would just eat some fresh (fresh olives fried with a drop of oil and salt are wonderful, and not bitter at all while hot), freeze some (they are great in all sorts of stews and braised meates) and cure most of them. Middle Eastern friends do the curing in their bathtub. For bigger crops, water in May through July, but withhold water later.

Check your math Sween....68 oz is about 2 quarts....and for $11 something, pleanty cheap...but then so are a lot of other things at Sam's...like Bombay gin and basamati rice. Buying in quantity tends to reduce the price per oz or per item.....this same oil costs a lot more by the 8 oz bottle at the grocery store. Yes...it IS EVOO....green and fruity. They have several brands at about the same price. The bottle I currently have is Bertoli...it gets pretty firm and cloudy at refrigerator temps. I bought it to make a boat load of pesto ( incidentally using Parmaganio Reggiano I bought at Sams for about $12 a pound) and found I liked it a lot. Incidentally I also know my way around a kitchen....and spent a lot of years feeding my family dinner like they might eat at a fine resturaunt on a daily basis. Ever been to a fancy food show? The display of olive oils is amazing, displayed in footed wine glasses, with a dish and bread cubes for sampling....and about every color of yellow, amber, green and olive....all of them very pricey EVOOs. There are the Greeks, and the Italians, Spanish, Portuguese, Isralis etc....all with their tables set out showing their oils. Olive oil is rather like wine....experts can tell where and when the fruit was grown.....and price doesn't always equate with the best taste. And I fry things in EVOO....as well as in butter....and a mix of the two......and unless I get a phone call and am distracted, things sautee well and never burn! Linda C

You asked about non-whey protein drinks, and there are many other types of protein powders available including rice, egg whites, and vegetable sources like peas and soy. The Biological Value is highest in whey, eggs, milk, meats, then legumes and other foods. B.V. is the measure of a protein's ability to be used by the body. The higher the B.V. number the more protein your body will be able to use. It takes nearly twice as much protein from beans (49) to equal the same amount in beef (80), while whey is 100-159, eggs-100, milk-91, chicken-79.... Gelatin is an excellent source of protein and you can make healthy "Knox Blocks" and other gummy-type gelatin enriched snack recipes using 100% juice (apple, grape, orange, pineapple, etc.), coconut milk, almond milk..... Lots of recipes if you look on-line. There are two types of gelatin, the "common" one that gels, such as Knox, and the "better" brands like Dr. Benard Jensen's, NOW brand, and Great Lakes Gelatin in the red container. Great Lakes Gelatin in the green container mixes in cold liquids but doesn't gel - great as a smoothie add-in or added to nearly any beverage (6 grams protein per tablespoon). If I find my energy lagging in the afternoon (I suspect it has something to do with getting up at 3 a.m. everyday), I'll mix gelatin in a beverage (hot or cold) and drink that instead of finding a snack. While traveling I add 1/2 of a packet of Hansen's Natural Fruit Stix (sweetened with Truvia) to a bottle of water and also add 1 T. of Great Lakes Gelatin (green container). Lots of health benefits from gelatin and that includes the gelatin from making meaty bone broth. Broth in a thermos would be another good high-protein snack. No offense to anyone who enjoys soy in their diet, I personally wouldn't recommend any type of soy for consumption, and especially for a child. For more information: "The Whole Soy Story" by Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN. Other choices would be to make your baked goods with almond flour (or other nut flours) or coconut flour (which usually require a LOT of eggs in the recipes - the muffins I made yesterday have 1/2 an egg per muffin and is why one muffin for an adult is very satisfying and filling - plus coconut flour is very high in fiber). There are also some really good recipes that use cooked beans (or canned) in recipes including muffins, cookies, brownies, etc. I make several snack foods using sprouted beans/seeds/grains to increase the protein level. [I'm more concerned with sticking to low-glycemic foods and choose foods on the lower-half of the glycemic index of foods. Trying to avoid diabetes, which runs rampant in hubby's family.] Beans not only add protein and fiber, it also replaces most of the fat in these recipes. You can also replace a portion of wheat flour (up to 20%) with bean flour to increase the protein level. FYI: Use small white beans for bean flour (I mill my own) because it has the least amount of beany flavor when added to baked goods. Even better if you sprout, dry (in a dehydrator), and grind the beans into flour. Sprouting will increase the nutrition of the beans and reduce the hard-to-digest phytates and enzyme inhibitors. But foremost, keep in mind the daily recommended amount of protein for your small child. Generally, 0.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight for 4-to-6-year-olds. An extra-large egg (you could choose medium-size eggs when serving them to a small child to reduce the serving size), two tablespoons of peanut butter or one-half cup of beans provide six to eight grams of protein each, which is about the same amount in each ounce of lean meat, fish and poultry. There are also two to four grams of protein in each serving of breads and cereals and one to three grams in a serving of most vegetables. -Grainlady

San sent me a bottle of white truffle oil a couple of years ago, and although delicious, it didn't "go with" everything. Ashley's favorite use was to drizzle over mashed potatoes, after she had laced them liberally with pats of butter. You'd think she was related to Paula Deen, the way she puts butter on mashed potatoes! I liked a bit mixed with some balsamic vinegar and drizzled over beets and baby spinach, but I only needed a bit. That bottle lasted a long time, but I was sorry to see the end of it. Annie