Scale recipes for big events and build cleaning checklists with ChatGPT or Claude, starting from a screenshot
Brian Reilly, co-owner of Arlington's Catering and Historic Venue in Springfield, Illinois, in the Springfield Business Journal
Per the Springfield Business Journal, Reilly uses ChatGPT and Claude to create routine checklists and to scale recipes for large crowds. "I can tell ChatGPT I need to make a list of cleaning procedures, and it does a very good job of finding those things for me that I would otherwise have to spend a lot of time researching," he says. It also helps with conversions, "such as a bakery item that we are trying to make in mass quantities with all kinds of different measurements." To avoid typing mistakes, he now screenshots the recipe and puts the image into the program.
ChatGPT Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo · Claude $17/mo billed annually ($20 monthly)
Easy · or we do it from $149/mo
ChatGPT, Claude
The problem
Reilly says "There's a lot of math that goes into taking a recipe that I might have built for 25-30 people and scaling that for, say, 330 people," and researching routine procedures like cleaning takes time.
What happened
Reilly says scaling recipes with AI "really helps on a fast turnaround" and that AI "has certainly saved us some time" on conversions. On accuracy: "Sometimes the way that I feed it information may be inaccurate, but I've caught those pretty quickly," and with screenshots "It might take a time or two, but it's been pretty accurate." No figures were given. Self-reported.
Quoted in the source: Brian Reilly, co-owner, Arlington's Catering and Historic Venue. Source: Springfield Business Journal: Local small businesses put AI to work (Lynn Whalen) (2026-07-28) · Added 2026-10-20.
How to set it up yourself
- What Arlington's Catering does: per the Springfield Business Journal, the co-owner uses ChatGPT and Claude to make routine checklists, such as cleaning procedures, and to scale recipes and convert measurements for big events. He screenshots the recipe and gives the program the image so he doesn't introduce typing errors.
- Take a clear screenshot or photo of the recipe card or recipe file you want to scale.
- Upload it to ChatGPT or Claude with the prompt below, giving the original yield and the guest count.
- Check the scaled amounts against the original before you order or cook, especially leavening, salt and spices in baked goods, and test a batch when it's a new item. Have a manager review any cleaning checklist against your health department rules.
Copy-paste prompt
This screenshot is a recipe that serves {ORIGINAL YIELD}. Scale it to {GUEST COUNT} servings. First, read back every ingredient and amount you see so I can confirm you read it correctly. Then give the scaled amounts in {UNITS: POUNDS / QUARTS / GRAMS} rounded to practical kitchen measures, and flag any ingredient that may not scale in a straight line (leavening, salt, spices, cook times, pan sizes). Don't guess at anything you can't read; mark it [UNREADABLE].One short email a day: 3 new AI use cases from real small businesses, each with its source and setup steps, plus a Tool of the Day. Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Tools used
ChatGPT
General AI assistant for writing, research, brainstorming and analysis.
From Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo (checked 2026-10-17)
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Claude
AI assistant for writing, long documents, analysis and coding help.
From $17/mo billed annually ($20 monthly) (checked 2026-10-18)
Visit site →Some tool links may be affiliate links. Disclosure
Checked prices: ChatGPT: from Free $0; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $100/mo (verified 2026-10-17) · Claude: from $17/mo billed annually ($20 monthly) (verified 2026-10-18)
Rather not do it yourself?
We'll set this up in your tools, in your voice, tested. $149/mo with setup included (6-month minimum), or $497 pay-once. Satisfaction guarantee: we'll fix it until it works. Pay-once setups: or we refund your setup fee. $149/mo plan: cancel in the first 30 days and we refund your first month. Terms. We reply within 1 business day.
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