Recipe Project

You will create an Excel spreadsheet to determine the cost of a food recipe. The recipe must be approved by me. Find a recipe online and post the URL in the project forum. The total cost of the recipe should be reasonable. For example, an angel food cake would not cost $220! I will determine whether your proposal will suit the project requirements. Do not use recipes for cookies, cakes, pies or pizza since these tend to be more difficult to use in a project. Your spreadsheet program must be capable of taking input from current market prices (which would be a hard number) and capable of being increased or decreased for number of servings. Except for the inputs for the current market prices and quantity, all numbers must be calculations (not hard numbers). We will discuss this project in more detail in our chats and I will demonstrate how to do this sort of costing project for you. I have posted a sample project in the forum as well. Avoid recipes with many spices (such as Indian food typically has) since costing this type of recipe will be more difficult. If you do not get my approval for the project, you will not receive any points for the work. I urge you to start looking for a recipe right away since the term is short and there is a lot of work to be done. If you want my feedback on your work in progress, post what you've done so far in the project forum (using the same thread you used to submit your proposed recipe and I will provide you with feedback. I will not review every calculation/formula you create but will give you guidance on appearance and whether your project appears to be functioning properly. You are welcome to call me to discuss your project as well. Please call me during my office hours. If that time does not work for you, we can make arrangements for a mutually agreeable time for us to talk.

1. Your recipe must include at least 5 ingredients that would be considered 'direct materials'.
2. Indirect materials (such as seasonings) can be estimated per serving. This estimate will be a minimal amount (for example, $.02 per serving. Note that indirect materials would be only a small component of the recipe and will have a very low cost (such as salt). For example, saffron may be used in a small quantity but it can be very expensive.
3. You must include an input area for number of servings. This is the key number that will be used to cost out all the ingredients used in your recipe. You will also input the current market price for all direct materials. These amounts can be determined by going to www.peapod.com. You must use Peapod to get the market prices for your ingredients. Note that these amounts may need to be converted to what is required per the recipe. For example, your recipe may call for one egg. Since you cannot buy just one egg, you would need to input the price for a carton (12 eggs) and then divide that number by 12 to calculate the per egg cost, then multiply that cost by the number of eggs called for in your recipe.
4. Note the number of servings indicated in your recipe. It is typically best to first determine the cost per serving and then use that figure as a multiplier when doing your project.
5. Provide a place at the top of your Excel page for me to input number of servings. The total cost of the recipe must change as a function of my input.
6. Provide a picture (copy and paste from the Web) of the finished product as well as the recipe itself. Don't forget to include the URL for the recipe as well as the number of servings per the recipe.

Example:

Chinese Fried Rice Recipe

Servings 4 US

• ³₄ cup finely chopped onion DM

Search for how many onions are in a 3 lb bag? =

Answer:

4 - 5 medium onions

1 pound = 450g = 4 - 5 medium onions = 3 large onions = 2 to 3 cups chopped, depending on how coarse you chop it.

Price at Peapod for 3 lb bag = $4.99 = 2-3 cups of chopped onion. Assume 2.5 cups @ $4.99 = $1.99 per cup = $1.49 for cup = $.37 per serving. Note how we went from pounds to cups to dollars in our calculations. We will be doing these same types in calculations in some chapters in your text. You must do all these calculations as formulas within Excel. If you input hard numbers rather than formulas, you will not get credit for this project. The only direct input would be the cost and number of servings (which I will input).

• 2 ¹₂ tablespoons oil IDM unless its olive oil which is more expensive than cooking oil.
• 1 egg, lightly beaten (or more eggs if you like) You must convert cost per carton to cost per egg
• 3 drops soy sauce IDM
• 3 drops sesame oil IDM
• 8 ounces cooked lean boneless pork or 8 ounces chicken, chopped DM
• ¹₂ cup finely chopped carrot (very small) DM
• ¹₂ cup frozen peas, thawed DM
• 4 cups cold cooked rice, grains separated (preferably medium grain) DM
• 4 green onions, chopped DM
• 2 cups bean sproutsDM
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce (add more if you like) IDM

I started my recipe below

Zesty Chicken pasta salad

1 box Ronti pasta DM

1 Green Bell pepper chopped

1 Onion chopped

1 bottle of zesty Italian dressing DM

1 bottle of ranch dressing

1 pack of ranch seasoning

3 boil eggs

1 pack of bacon bites

1 can of sweet corn

1 can sweet peas

2 chicken breast grilled DM