Balancing Your Kitchen Could Balance Your Life

There’s a connection between your kitchen and money - and we’re not talking about grocery bills.

Delve into feng shui, the Chinese art of placement, and you’ll find that what happens in your kitchen affects the wealth area of your life.

“The kitchen is important because it has to do with substance or the money-making or the nutrition of the family,” says Katherine Allen, a feng shui adviser and interior designer. “If you provide good nourishment, then you family gets fed and the whole society gets fed. It’s real important for your wealth.”

Feng shui works with the theory of five elements: water, wood, fire, earth and metal. In the kitchen, you’ve got two major elements that are counterproductive to each other: water and fire, the sink and the stove.

“In some people’s kitchens, they have more fire going on and things are cooking too much in their lives,” says Allen.

“In some kitchens, not enough fire is being used, no one cooks anymore, and so the water’s taken over. There’s no real nutrition in the house. You can balance these two by enhancing the fire or decreasing the water.”

Allen recommends making sure that all the burners work and you use them equally. Keep your tea kettle polished, as it reflects the burners. This increases the wealth.

So if you’re cooking all the time, does that mean you’re going to be rich?

Allen laughed. “Well, that’s the idea. Or fat, right?”

Allen, who offers workshops on feng shui (call 448-7762), focuses on how energy is moving in a space. Here’s a recipe that’s sure to spark a lot of positive energy from your family.

Lamb Patties With Kiwi Sauce

From “High-Flavor, Low-Calorie Recipes for Healthy Eating” (Betty Crocker Creative Recipes).

Kiwi sauce (recipe follows)

1 pound lean ground lamb

2/3 cup soft bread crumbs

1/3 cup dry red wine or vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed

2 small cloves garlic, finely chopped

Prepare sauce. Set oven control to broil. Spray broiler pan rack with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix remaining ingredients. Shape mixture into 4 patties, each about 1 inch thick. Place patties on rack in broiler pan.

Broil about 3 inches from heat for 10 to 14 minutes for medium doneness, turning once. Serve with sauce.

Yield: 4 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 220 calories, 9 grams fat (37 percent fat calories), 80 milligrams cholesterol, 10 grams carbohydrate, 26 grams protein, 410 milligrams sodium.

Kiwi Sauce

1 medium kiwi, peeled and mashed (1/4 cup)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves, or 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried mint

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons lime juice

Mix all ingredients.

, DataTimes MEMO: The goal of Five and Fifteen is to find recipes where you can do the shopping in five minutes and the cooking in 15. Merri Lou Dobler, a registered dietitian and Spokane resident, welcomes ideas from readers. Write to Five and Fifteen, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.

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