[Example Recipe] #<- This is the name of the recipe
10 #<- This is how many people the recipe servers

blueberries #<- Each ingredient's name is here
10.0 #<- This is the quantity of blueberries
units #<- This is the units of quantity of blueberries

strawberries
5.0
kilograms

[End of recipe] #<- This indicates the end of example recipe

def input_func(): #defines the input_function function
name = str(input("What is the name of the recipe?"))
people = input("How many people are served by the recipe?")
f = 0 #f stands for finished, and is used as a quick variable for a while loop
ingredients = [] #defines ingredients as an empty list
quantity = [] #defines quantity as an empty list
units = [] #defines units as an empty list
num_ing = 0 #sets the number of ingredients, which at the start is obviously 0
while f == 0: #as stated earlier, f is used as a quick variable for the while loop
    ingredients.append(input ("What is the name of the ingredient?")) #asks end user to input the name of an ingredient
    num_ing = num_ing + 1 #sets the number of ingredients to the previous numberr + 1, so that the program can keep track of number of ingredients
    print(num_ing) #THIS IS FOR TESTING PURPOSES
    quantity.append (float((input("What is the quantity of the ingredient? (numbers only)")))) #asks end user to input the quantity as a integer e.g. 500
    units.append (str(input("What units is the ingredient measuered in?"))) #asks end user to input the units of the previous integer e.g. grams
    choice = input("Are there any more ingredients? (Enter no or yes)") #asks the user if there are any more ingredients to input
    if choice == "no": #if the user says no, the loop is broken in order to write to the file
        break
    else:
        continue #if the user says anything else, the while loop continues

file = open("recipes.txt", "a")
file.write("["+str(name)+"]")
file.write("n")
file.write(str(people))
file.write("n")
file.write("n")
for i in range(num_ing):
    file.write(ingredients[i])
    file.write("n")
    file.write(str((quantity[i])))
    file.write("n")
    file.write(str(units[i]))
    file.write("n")
    file.write("n")
file.write("[End of recipe]")
file.close() #closes the file
initial_menu()

def output_func():
    import string
    search_name = str(input("What is the name of the recipe you wish to retrieve?"))
    for line in open("recipes.txt"):
        if "["+search_name+"]" in line:
           print("The recipe "+search_name+" exists") #prints that the recipe exists

def input_func(): #defines the input_function function
    ...
    return {
        'name': name,
        'people': people,
        'ingredients': ingredients,
        'quantity': quantity,
        'units': units,
        'num_ing': num_ing,
        }

def open_recipes(path):
    try:
        with open(path) as stream:
            return json.loads(stream.read())
    except FileNotFoundError:
        # start a new database
        return {}

def save_recipes(path, recipes):
    with open(path, 'w') as stream:
        stream.write(json.dumps(recipes, indent=2))

# open the recipe database
recipes = open_recipes('recipes.json')

# start a new recipe
recipe = input_func()

name = recipe['name']

# check if the recipe already exists
if name not in recipes:
    # store the recipe in the database
    recipes[name] = recipe
    # save the database
    save_recipes('recipes.json', recipes)
else:
    print('ERROR: recipe already exists:', name)
    # rename recipe...

...

# find an existing recipe
search_name = str(input("What is the name of the recipe you wish to retrieve?"))

if search_name in recipes:
    # fetch the recipe from the database
    recipe = recipes[search_name]
    # display the recipe...
else:
    print('ERROR: could not find recipe:', search_name)