Post-Malware Miscellany
My blog is (still) clean.
And I am still over the moon about that. I've been kind of obsessively checking it, using Sucuri's free site scanner. Every time I hit "verify", I feel slightly nervous, and then relief floods over me when I see that my blog is turning up green and not red.
I have to say, if you ever have a problem with malware, I highly recommend Sucuri. They're very reasonably priced, and all of the people that I dealt with were very polite and helpful. For $89.99/YEAR, they'll monitor a single domain and clean up malware, no matter how many times you need cleaning.
My particular brand of pesky malware needed 3-4 cleanings in a 12 hour period, so I consider this to a very well-spent $89.99.
Plus, I have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that they're scanning my site every 6 hours, even while I sleep. So, if I have any new malware show up, I should be able to identify it and fix it fast. Yay Sucuri!!
(no, I am not affiliated with them. Yet. I'm going to sign up for their affiliate program, though, because I do so love to advertise for companies I use and love.)
Free (not-fake) AntiVirus
I want to apologize 1000 times over to any of you that had virus problems as a result of visiting my site on Tuesday evening (that's when my site got infected, although over the weekend there was a problem with a network ad as well). As soon as I saw that my site truly did have malware, I hired help to fix the problem, and as I mentioned above, my blog will continue to be monitored around the clock.
I've also taken steps to further secure access to my blog and to my ftp account to prevent hackers in the future.
In short, I want my blog to be a safe place for you to visit and I'm doing everything I can to ensure that!
Of course, you can run into malware anywhere on the web, so you should have anti-virus software on your computer. The good news is that you don't have to fork over a bunch of cash for a program. In fact, you can get a program for free.
Mr. FG, who works in IT, recommends Avira (they offer a free program in addition to a paid one) and Microsoft Security Essentials.
(we're not affiliated with either of those programs...we just use them on our systems.)
And now for two frugal things, just because I need to talk about something other than malware, or I may go crazy.
I made fruit leather
Remember the yucky pears I told you about in last week's Food Waste Friday post? Well, I peeled them, cooked them, and mashed them the same way I do when I make applesauce.
Unfortunately, the flavorless-ness of the pears was apparent (or, um, aPEARent. Hee.) in this pearsauce, so I decided to try making fruit leather.
My kids love to have fruit leather as a occasional treat, but my goodness, I hate the amount of plastic trash that this stuff produces. Because of that, I've been wanting to make my own for a while now.
I lined a two glass baking pans with parchment paper, spread the pear puree, and dried it in a low oven (200 ° F) until it looked like fruit leather. I spread mine kind of thick, so this took quite a few hours, and even so, I think I could have let it dry a little longer.
The kids liked it, though, and I'm pleased that my not-so-hot pears have now all been eaten and are not sitting in my compost bin.
I do think a food dehydrator would work a lot better than an oven, though, especially in the summer when you don't really want your oven on all day. I'd like to try making my own beef jerky too, so I'm thinking I might look into getting a dehydrator. Any thoughts/recommendations you have on that topic would be great.
Joel at http://www.wellpreserved.ca did some posts a few weeks ago about what to look for in a dehydrator. They also have a wealth of tips, ideas, and recipes on the topic. Fruit and veg by the bushel is definitely frugal, so it will pay for itself if you use it.
I have an excalibur dehydrator and I LOVE it. It is pricey compared to some of the others, but if you use it frequently I think that the extra $$ are worth it. Mine was a tax return splurge a few years ago and I have never regretted it!
Glad your "malware problem" is cleared up. I've always wondered...how does one benefit from creating this kind of problem? I've had viruses in the past and for the life of me I don't know why folks do this...Any thoughts from you or Mr. FG on motive?
I think it's similar to vandalism...just getting joy from messing up something that belongs to someone else. Or it could be a power trip kind of thing too.
If someone hacks your computer to steal something, that's one thing. It's more understandable that way, if you know what I mean. But messing something up just to mess it up seems like a whole 'nother level of evil.
Our CSA farmer recommends the Excalibur brand food dehydrator. We purchased one and have used it for several differ kind of fruit. We haven't tried fruit leather or meat jerky yet.....
Is this my friend in TN?
Dehydrators are basically cabinets, with mesh "shelves," a low heat source, and maybe a fan. The fan speeds up the drying immensely, and adds a lot of cost. We have an old cheapo - no fan - that still works great. It's about like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Ronco-FD1005WHGEN-5-Tray-Electric-Dehydrator/dp/B000G20TCQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1307021047&sr=8-4
For you I'd recommend the cheap route also: they're almost unbreakable because the heat source is just a plugged in wire, and I'm awfully sure you'd use patience rather than spend an extra $100. I do recommend a rectilinear one rather than a round one, because it takes less space to store. Dehydrators are bulky, there's no way around it.
I love my food dehydrator! You can find delicious recipes online that save you loads of money compared to store bought. I love my home made beef jerky, and fruit leather is great. But the best part? When you have fruit that you can't eat up you just dehydrate it before it goes bad and it keeps for months! Grapes become rasins, bananas become banana chips, same thing for apples. And I love putting my dried fruit into my homemade granola! I have this Nesoc one: http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-75PR-700-Watt-Food-Dehydrator/dp/B000FFVJ3C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307023723&sr=8-1.
It comes with shelf liners to use for fruit leather, and another mesh kind I haven't really found a use for yet. I just use the normal shelves for most everything else. I can throw them in the top rack of the dishwasher for cleanup, too. If you're going to make beef jerky you need one that reaches 170 to kill the bacteria in the meat. The one I linked goes tha high, but doesn't have an on/off switch or timer. So, I can only use it in teh daytime when I am around, and have to plug it in or unplug it to turn it off and on. Small inconvenince for saving money though! Can't wait to see what you make with yours! I'm thinking of trying out some homemade soup mixes ir dip mixes from dehydrated vegetables next. It's a lot of fun 🙂
Sorry, I had a typo in my temperature! It's 160 for beef and it really should be 165 for poultry. I don't make turky jerky or anything though, but if you do you might want a model that goes a little higher.
Or you could make jerkey from cooked meat. If you decide to make jerkey, I have marinade and rub recipes for all these.
I use my dehydrator when I'm out of the house or overnight, unless I think the food will overdry during that time.
Excalibur dehydrator! I've had several of the others over the years and they just didn't compare! This is the one I have http://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/9-Tray-Large-Excalibur-with-26-hour-Timer-3926T-28-37-regular-prod.htm and it's well worth the money spent!
Thanks for the tip on Groupon! I never check there because I don't live anywhere close to the cities where they have deals. But I'm still kicking myself for not getting the amazon one. I'll check this out!
My father-in-law makes jerky. They have a bakers rack and he just hangs the strips of meat up with paper clips (twisted to hook one end through the meat and the other end to hang). He then blows a normal floor fan on high (not sure exactly how long it takes though, but it's pretty much free if you have the fan and somewhere to hang the meat).
Just a thought 🙂
Forgot to clarify that the fan is blowing on high directly onto the jerky. Figured that might be common sense, but just in case I'm wrong I decided to add that tidbit 🙂
If you garage sale or have friends who do, look out for a dehydrator. I see them fairly frequently. Seems like something people buy with good intentions and then give up on a couple of years later.
Don't forget to buy your Groupon through Ebates so you get cash back!
Oh, darn...I always forget about that.
Someone donated an Excalibur food dehydrator to my classroom last year (I'm a special education teacher). My students L-O-V-E it! We go to a local grower who allows families to pick and take home food for free. The kids love to dehydrate fruits & veggies to bring home and share with their families. Plus we get lot's of HEALTHY snacks at school. It's great!
You may think this completely out there weird but I'll say it anyway. Have you ever thought of using your car? Don't know about yours, but my cars are always super hot in summer and make the perfect place to dry herbs rather quickly. I spread them out onto newspaper and cover them with another (herbs shouldn't be hit by the sun) and they dry super fast. I figure it could work for other things like Fruit leather. Only trying will tell you for sure. 🙂
My van is black, so it does get CRAZY hot in there.
Kristen, don't forget Old Navy has clothes for mommies, too!
My husband and I each bought one Groupon for Old Navy 🙂 I will be hitting the clearance racks and then an additional 50% off -- good deal, indeed.
I am telling you Norton is the best anti virus and cheapest. I have never found a free one that works right. That fruit leather is great. You can get the anti-virus at Cost co for about $70 but, it is well worth every penny for the time lost and all the freebies you can get ect..
Another Excalibur dehydrator fan here (No pun intended!)
I take WilliamB's point, and almost bought a cheaper one for the same reason, but actually, having a fan means I don't have to rearrange trays and I can use the timer, which is important for me as it saves time (changing trays round rather then time waiting) and I may not always be around to do it.
In the UK dehydrators are imported from Germany or the US- I've never seen a second hand one for sale; they're still quite a novelty, so I had to buy new and wanted to get it right. A lot of the research I did showed people buying a cheap one and then upgrading to an Excalibur. Fine if I'd bought a yard sale one, but I didn't want to buy new twice.
I also wanted big enough drying space and the Excalibur has masses. It is big to store- mine lives in my utility room (laundry room)- but it also dries loads! My children take fruit to school every day for a snack, and when there's not much fresh fruit in season they'll take dried- apple rings, strawberry slices, fruit leather and dried fresh pineapple is divine!
We joke DD2 is going to turn into fruit leather, she eats so much of it. Her teacher last year kept checking to see what new flavour she had- blackberry and apple (free! yay!), rhubarb, apple, strawberry and raspberry and various combinations are all favourites.
I really like my Excaliber. It is big enough to hold a substantial amount of fruit or veggies. Whatever you get, make sure it has a thermostat (can control the temperature) and a fan to take away the moist air. Check out http://www.dehydrate2store.com they have lots of videos about all the things you can dehydrate and how to do it. One of the things I love about dehydrating is that when I am getting more from my garden than we can eat, but not enough to can, I can dehydrate it and not waste it. Dehydrated veggies make excellent soup for pennies.
I have thought about getting a food dehydrator as well, but I am not sure if we would use it enough to justify the cost...
Thanks for the Groupon tip! Normally I wouldn't hesitate ( I mean who can't use some clearance goodies), but has anyone else noticed the quality of Old Navy's clothes has become pretty bad? I don't expect a t-shirt from there to last forever, but it seems like the fit has changed or something.
I don't buy much for myself in the way of clothes there, but I've been happy with my kids' clothes. Joshua has shorts from there (they're actually almost thin enough for him and he doesn't have to cinch them WAY in with a belt), and they've lasted pretty well. We also like their flip-flops, and my girls have some dresses too. (the white ones I bought for Annalise is from ON).
Oh, and we own a lot of their fleece pullovers too.
I loved Old Navy for my oldest she was always tall and skinny and I had a hard time keeping her in pants. Old Navy lasted forever, but I have noticed that now that my girls are in the adult clothes not the kids clothes the quality is not what I would care for in some of the garments. 2 Sundresses needed to be repaired after 1 wear (the straps were separating from the dress).... but other items (pants and shorts are lasting well) so maybe it is the material they are using for tops and dresses as opposed to what is being used for bottoms. I try to shop resale and thrift and just found I need to check out a local Salvation Army that is an hour drive for me but might just beat my current favorite of platos closet.
Oh and sorry for the nosy question...are you wearing a headband or a wrap? Thanks 🙂
It's a headband. I wear it on days when I don't feel like straightening out the mess that is my wild bangs. 😉
You look like Zoe in that picture!
I am toying with a solar food dehydrator and a solar oven for this summer. Both will be located on my porch roof (less access for nosey neighbors/kids/animals). I will be sure to post about it when I do it. Because I work during the week I think I would only be able to use them on the weekends, but it sure beats heating the house up.
funny I was just considering buying a dehydrator. I was reading a book about clean recipes and she talked about sprouting your wheat then dehydrating it then grinding it for flour. I thought I would try it to see if it proved yummy as well as making jerky and fruit rolls. I have 4 kids, so this may be one of our science projects this summer!! I am also looking for an ice cream maker. I prefer ice cream with stuff I know what is in it vs. artificial junk.
I have been using my neighbors Cuisinart Ice Cream maker....Ice Cream makers are something that you should try and find used because once people find out there is a bit of effort and time involved they don't bother. When I asked my neighbor if I could use hers (with intentions of giving it back, I wanted to make sure I would use it) she let me know it was too much work for her...so I still have it (2 moths later) I have used it at least once a week, if not twice. I make a chocolate and vanilla every couple of days. They say 1.5qts but you can only make 1qt because it expands. I use Allrecipes for recipes. I do the frozen custards (with eggs) and have to cook them first. But I either double or triple the recipes then put them into qt mason jars and put them in the frige-then take out a qt when I want to make up some ice cream. It has to be VERY cold anyway or it takes longer to set up this way it is all ready. Cook up 2 batches once a week and I have enough for the next 2 weeks. I love making ice cream, I just bought 7qts of Cream and 6qts of Half and Half at Costco today because we were completely out. I am not sure if it is really cheaper (if you buy it on sale that is)..I paid $3.29 for a qt of cream and $1.75 for half and half. If you pay full price for Breyers (here that is $5.49) then I guess it is cheaper. I just suggest you go full fat/sugar or you won't be happy with the results.
I bought my food dehydrator at Bed Bath and Beyond with a 20% off coupon, it was cheaper than Amazon. I have an american harvest. I am glad I didn't spend a lot of money on it. I have made fruit leather. I liked the peach I made the strawberry was OK. I also made Beef Jerky that turned out awesome, but really we just don't eat that much food-or maybe just don't eat that of that stuff. I make my granola in the oven, it isn't practical to make a big batch in my dehydrator. The novelty has worn off and it just sits. I might use it in the future but right now, not so much.
ON clothes, I love the jeans for my kids, though they only have slim up to size 12 and my son just entered a size 14 so I am buying Levi's now or other brands with adjustable waists in size 14. I have better luck at Good Will. ON cotton shirts seem to have gotten thinner and thinner. Wash them a few times and mysterious holes show up. I bought the Groupon for it because I had a $10 credit anyways, so I got it for free. I need new clothes because I have lost weight, there is a blue halter dress that looks cute and I want it ($27.50). Forgot to use my ebates too...
I'm just wondering what other "fruit" leather you could make......I've never thought of it before, and I rarely (if ever) buy it for the kids.
Also, I have a convection oven.....wondering if it would work as well? Low temp with the fan on????