How to Leave Negative Feedback on EBay

My husband and I have been selling on EBay for a while, my husband more than me. EBay is always changing their rules. In the past, if a buyer (or seller) was not nice or didn't play by the rules, you could leave a negative feedback - well not any more. I recently had someone purchase something from me and they did not pay. Not only did they not pay, they didn't respond to my emails. After 4 days, I reported them so I could get the transaction cancelled. The transaction was cancelled, but when I go to leave negative feedback, I couldn't - EBay took that option away. Here is what EBay is saying, 

"Sellers aren't able to leave negative or neutral Feedback for buyers. That means sellers need other tools that will protect them against unfair treatment from buyers and bring those buyers to eBay's attention."

Many people don't like this, me included. How are we to know about deadbeat buyers? Negative feedback was what my husband and I (along with most of you) relied on as far as seeing who good and who was not.

I suppose the current way to handle this is to report them via feedback. Now when leaving a feedback, you can report the buyer. Reporting the buyer starts the investigation process on EBay's end - this is EBay's way way of protecting the buyer. I had actually reported my buyer before realizing I could do it through feedback. Not knowing what to do with leaving a feedback for this buyer, I just left them hanging. Well, a couple of weeks go by along with another good sale. I go to leave feedback for the good sale and saw the bad sale still sitting, waiting for a feedback. Forgetting that this was a deadbeat buyer, I automatically left a postive feedback. When I go to review my sales, I realized that I had made an error - I gave my deadbeat buyer a positive feedback! I didn't know what to do. I knew there was a way to reply to feedbacks so I researched it and here is what I did:

1. Go to Feedback Forum.
2. At the far right, under "Feedback Tools", click on "Follow up to feedback left".
3. Find the feedback you want to correct and click on "Follow up" at the far right.
4. You will see a blank box after "Follow up comment" and you can revise your positive feedback and leave an appropriate comment.

I felt bad that I had accidentally left a positive feedback, for a negative transaction, but after doing the steps above, I feel better. Now people can know about this buyer and proceed with caution.

I hope this helps others when faced with a negative situation on EBay.

Happy Selling!!! 

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Thanks!

A Note Tablet Portfolio

Last Wednesday I had a job interview - my first since being fired from my previous job four years ago. I was so worried about the stigma of being fired and that it caused me a lot of procrastination find another job. I thought since this job interview is a milestone for me, I would make something that would help me feel better about this whole interview process - which has been very daunting for me from the get go.

I wanted to walk into the interview looking put together and professional so I decided to make a note tablet portfolio. I studied some online and even went to my local Walmart to take pics of one and get dimensions. It took me about four days to get everything put together, that includes having to take things apart and cut parts shorter to fit. There was even issues with the inner pocket not being sewn properly from having to fix the sewing seam, but overall, I think it came out pretty nice. I plan to make more now that I know how to deal with the issues I had. Take a look and tell me what you think.

I wanted it to have some print, but not be over the top. I also wanted some color.

I wanted at least one inside pocket and a pen pocket. I had to think to figure out how I was going to make a pocket to put the tablet in and I wanted it to be sturdy. The tablet pocket on the right is just a long rectangle. I wouldn't normally put my label so high, but I had forgotten to add it and that was the most convenient spot to put it so I could top stitch around it.

  I constructed it so there is a compartment behind both inner pockets so I could insert fabric covered chip board for sturdiness. I also covered the top of the tablet with the printed fabric for contrasting interest on the inside.

You can see one of the minor flaws here - it's not that bad, the portfolio is still usable. No one will know about the flaws but me. 

I plan to make more for Christmas presents and to sell - now that I have all the bugs worked out, I think they'll do great!

Thanks reading!!

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Thanks!

A Bag Pouch

I have made a couple "fanny packs" for me in the past, they were basically wallets with a belt and they were very useful and serviceable. I loved them during the winter when a bag and a bulky jacket were just too much, plus I love the hands free option.

They both have pockets for my cards and the outside pocket on the one on the right is for my cell phone. Money just sits inside at the bottom.

Back in 2009 I had a job where I was up and down a lot - sit at the desk, then get up to do stuff. In the beginning to help me remember all the things I had to do, I made this pouch:

It had the fanny pack concept, but I made a pouch large enough to hold a steno note pad for all my notes - I also made a little pocket in front to hold the remote radio we used to communicate between each other.

When I didn't need my note book any more, I converted the pouch into a little bag - it was just enough to hold my pursellet sideways, my cell went in the front pocket.

Lately, I've been thinking on that pouch concept and wanted to take it further. I started yesterday and finished it today.

This is the view looking inside. I made it to hold my pursellet and I made inside back pockets to hold my cell phone and my camera (that gray phone on the right is just for show - I was using my camera to take pics).

This is looking down at it without holding it open - not bulky at all. I thought of putting a snap for a closure, but I really don't need it, it's so close to my body nothing can fall out nor can anybody steal anything.

This is where the front meets the strap. I used large split rings, I wanted the strap to be a little articulated and the split rings work perfectly. The fanny pack straps I've made in the past weren't articulated and there was a little stress in that area.

Here is the back view - a little crooked as I took this pic myself.

Here I am sitting down - it doesn't get in the way.

Here - I am wearing a short jacket.

This is a side profile - I made the bottom 2 inches wide to accommodate what I want to carry. 

There no room for other stuff (well maybe a pen), but that's the way I wanted it. I like to just drop and go when I use my bag and this will be perfect. I am so pleased at how this turned out - I just took the blue bag that used to be a pouch and turned it on it's side and took it from there. I am thinking tho, it could use some color at the top edge, maybe a border of red? I don't know - I'll think about it, but it's pretty cool huh?

Thanks for reading!!

08/21/13 Update: I did add a strip of red to the top - I think it makes it look better. What do you think?

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Thanks!

A Different Way to Cook Rice

I was watching Sara Moulton on TV on day and she cooked this recipe. It looked like a very yummy recipe to try and it's on my list of things to cook, but what intrigued me the most was that she said in all her years of cooking, she has a hard time cooking rice - it never comes out right. She show her method of cooking rice and I think it's brilliant! Basically, she cooks her rice like pasta - she fills a pan with water, no set amount, and gets it boiling. After boiling, she adds the amount of rice she wants to cook and lets it boil for 17 minutes. After, you just strain in a colander and its ready to eat! You don't have to wait for it to set or anything. The grains are fluffy and separated.

I decided to give this a try, I used a two quart sauce pan and put water in about 3/4's of the way up and put a lid on it (boils faster) and let it come to a boil, I had it on medium high heat (make sure you have enough water or it will turn into risotto rice). After coming to a boil, I took off the lid and poured the rice in and stirred it to prevent clumping - Sara added salt, but I don't. I just let it boil for 17 minutes.

After 17 minutes, I poured it in a colander and let it drain.

This is what was left in the pot after dumping out the rice - A LOT of starch! If you have issues with rice, this could probably be the problem.

After rinsing out the pot, I put the rice back in and let it sit on the warm burner as I served dinner - no waiting!

Here is a mini video of the rice two days after the rice was cooked - this is straight from the frig, cold! See how well it separates? It's not stuck together and clumpy like usual.

For a while now I have been avoiding rice at home - I only eat it occasionally (I am part Asian and I grew up eating rice for three meals). Rice has been causing my blood sugar to spike and it gives me a really full, bloated feeling. Plus, I have a tendency to eat too much rice when the protein I'm eating is really good - I've been eating quinoa instead, which has been a great substitute for me. In my opinion, this is the best way to cook rice - you are basically boiling out the starch and dumping it out out when you pour out the rice in the colander. In the traditional way of cooking, either by stove top or rice cooker, the starch is contained and gets absorbed back into the rice (plus, you have to wait about five minutes before eating for the rice to set) - cooking this way eliminates all of that! I believe that this starch has been causing my issues. Also, with this process, you don't have to fuss about the right ratio of water to rice - you just fill the pot as if you were cooking pasta - easy peasy! I've eaten this rice for two days with no problems. You basically monitor the rice for 17 minutes, then when it's done - you eat it! There is no wait time, the rice is is nice and fluffy. This is the way I'm going to cook rice from now on. So, if rice cause you stomach distress or other problems, try this method and see how it works for you.

Thanks for reading!!!

08/16/13 Update: I tried this with brown rice and it worked, you just have to adjust your cooking time - I cooked mine for about 40 minutes. Test taste it every 5 minutes or so (keeping track of your time) and when it's just, that's the time you use from then on. Rice was toothsome like it should be and nicely fluffy and separated like the white rice.

09/08/13 Update: This method works great with quinoa also!

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Thanks!

Cooking Shouldn't Be Rocket Science

I watched Trisha's Southern Kitchen this past weekend and Trisha Yearwood made this family recipe which was very simple to make. In trying to decide what to make for tonight's dinner, I remembered this recipe and knew I had all the main ingredients on hand. Whenever I see a recipe I like, I always take it and try to make it my own. What I mean by making it my own, is that, if there is too much of one ingredient or if I can substitute something for another that I like, I do it - and I do it a lot. For this recipe I knew I wanted to put sage in it to add extra flavor. I went and looked up the recipe and saw that there were 30 reviews, so I decided to check them out. Right off the bat, people were saying that the recipe was bland. Several other reviews said that there were too many potatoes. Well, what people don't realize is that when you are cooking, you are the master of your kitchen and ingredients - Trisha won't be looking over your shoulder saying, "No, you can't put that in my recipe". Cooking shouldn't be rocket science - you can add and subtract as you go along to make it taste how you like. Say you're cutting up 3 pounds of potato (like the above recipe calls for) and think, "Gee that's a lot of potato for this one recipe", well then, you put however much you feel is enough. And in regard to bland flavor, when you're cooking, you should always taste your cooking. If something is not right, then you add more seasoning. If you don't like a particular spice, add something else. You can Google spice substitutes if you're not familiar with spices and you will come up with at least something you can sub. The best thing you can do is get a second opinion. If someone else is in the house with you, ask them for their advice and take it from there.

For Trisha's family recipe, I had potatoes (I knew right off the bat that 3 pounds of potatoes was going to be way to much); ground chicken sausage (recipe calls for ground beef); onion; olive oil (in place of the butter); arrowroot (for the flour) - the arrowroot made this recipe gluten free; no sodium chicken stock (in place of the milk) and I left out the cheese - eliminating the last 2 ingredients make my recipe dairy free. I had gluten free bread crumbs in my freezer so I used that. I also had crimini mushrooms, beet greens, and some arugula - all organic.

First off I sliced the potatoes - I have a hand slicer so I used that to cut the two medium Yukon gold potatoes into slices, about 1/8" thick, and placed them in a pot of water to cover with some salt. I boiled the potatoes for about 10 minutes - some of the potatoes broke up, but it was ok, it was going on the bottom and no one was going to look at it. I sliced half an onion and added it to a skillet with some olive oil. I next sliced the crimini's thin and added those. After those started to cook, I added the chicken sausage and got it all browning nicely. I added a pinch of salt and pepper, a nice pinch of red pepper flakes, and two pinches of dried sage (crushed as I added). I chopped up the greens and added those. After the greens looked wilted, I added about 3 tablespoons of arrowroot and mixed it all in. Then I poured in the chicken stock - I poured enough to cover (roughly 2 cups) and then some because I wanted this dish to be saucy.

As the dish is simmering, I got the bread crumbs from the freezer and put them in a pan to toast in my toaster oven. After toasting, they went into a bowl - I did scrape some butter from the container (roughly two tablespoons) and mixed it in with the warm crumbs. If you're truly dairy free, you could use olive oil or coconut oil.

I took the cooked mixture and put it in a foil lined 7" x 11" glass dish and spread the bread crumbs over the entire top. I baked it at 425 degrees for 10 minutes until the top was nice and brown. I could've added some almond cheese to the bread crumbs, but I didn't.

Well, we had our dinner and when a I asked my husband, Jim, how he liked it - he said, "It was ok". I wasn't to sure about his answer until he went for seconds and said, "You know, I could stand for you to cook this again". It was then that I knew I had a winning recipe.

So you see, adding and subtracting from a recipe you find online is fun. Take a recipe that looks interesting and make it your own - I've been doing it for a while now and I love it. Taste as you go along, and if it doesn't taste right, either add more to it or get a second opinion. If you think it needs more of something, add it sparingly - you can always add more to a dish, but you can't take it out. Too much of something? Take some away - put it in the frig for next time. Most importantly, recipe blogs have a comment section - ALWAYS read those. People always leave suggestions on what they feel should be done differently. Take a cue from those suggestions and incorporate it into your recipe.

I hope you try both Trisha's and my recipe, I know they won't taste the same, but the basic idea of the recipe is there.

So next time you find a recipe online, take it and make it your own so you can have a winning recipe, and you won't need a rocket scientist degree to do it!

Here's my recipe - I've given you substitutions for each of the main ingredients:

Old Fashion Casserole

2 medium Yukon gold potato (any potato will do)
Half an onion sliced thin (can use shallots, leeks, or can leave out)
3 large crimini mushrooms sliced thin (can use button mushrooms)
1 lb. of ground chicken sausage (can use ground turkey, beef, or Italian sausage)
1 bunch of chopped beet greens (other greens would work)
1 c. of chopped arugula (parsley might be nice or just leave it out)
cut green beans would make a nice substitution instead of the greens
salt/pepper
2 pinches of sage (can use thyme or oregano)
dried red pepper flakes (can leave out)
3 tb. arrowroot (can use corn starch, potato starch, rice flour)
2 c.+ low sodium or no sodium chicken stock (can use vegetable stock, milk of choice or a combo of the 2)
gluten free bread crumbs (can use gluten free cracker crumbs or just use regular crackers)
butter (or olive oil)
spray cooking oil
Cheese, optional (if dairy free, can use almond cheese or any dairy free cheese)

- Thinly slice potatoes and place them in a pot and cover with water and boil for 10 minutes.          Drain in a colander and run cold water over it to stop the cooking. Set this aside.
- Slice the onion and mushrooms and saute.
- Add the sausage and mix it in.
- After it cooks for a while, add the greens, then the salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and mix it all in.
- Cook for several minutes, add the arrowroot and incorporate it in.
- Next, pour enough chicken stock to cover the ingredients and then some, you want this to be saucy. If it's too saucy, add more arrowroot. If it's still dry, add more chicken stock - you want a good balance of the two.
- Let this simmer while you preheat your oven to 425 degrees, then put your bread crumbs in a baking pan and toast in toaster oven or under the broiler for several minutes, being careful not to burn it. 
- Prep a 7" x 11" baking dish - line it with foil and spray with cooking spray.
- Lay the potatoes in a single layer in your pan - try to cover any holes.
- Pour the contents of your cooked ingredients on top of the potatoes.
- Take your hot bread crumbs and pour it into a large bowl - if using cheese, add it at this point and mix it in. Then add some pads of butter or a tablespoon of olive oil and incorporate the two. Alternatively, you could just sprinkle the toasted crumbs on top, then spray the crumbs with cooking spray. Spread the crumbs over the entire dish.
- Place your pan into your oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the crumb top gets brown. If you added cheese, it should get nice and cheesy and bubbly.
- Remove from the oven when done and let sit for about 5 minutes then serve while still warm.

Printable Recipe

Happy Cooking!!

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this post or any of my other posts. Thanks!