diff --git a/modular-recipes/code/recipe-loader/.gitignore b/modular-recipes/code/recipe-loader/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..869df07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modular-recipes/code/recipe-loader/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+/target
+Cargo.lock
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/modular-recipes/code/recipe-loader/Cargo.toml b/modular-recipes/code/recipe-loader/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f6d8e00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modular-recipes/code/recipe-loader/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+[package]
+name = "recipe-loader"
+version = "0.1.0"
+edition = "2021"
+
+[dependencies]
+clap = { version = "^4.5.26", features = ["derive"] }
+recipe = {path="../recipe"}
+toml = "0.8.19"
diff --git a/modular-recipes/code/recipe-loader/src/main.rs b/modular-recipes/code/recipe-loader/src/main.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..def00bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modular-recipes/code/recipe-loader/src/main.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+use clap::Parser;
+use recipe::TomlRecipe;
+
+use std::fs;
+use std::path::Path;
+
+#[derive(Parser, Debug)]
+struct Cli {
+    #[arg(long)]
+    /// the recipe you'd like to make (needs to be in the repo)
+    recipe: String,
+
+    #[arg(long)]
+    /// the repository of your recipes
+    repo: String,
+}
+
+pub struct LoadedEnvironment {
+    recipes: Vec<TomlRecipe>,
+}
+
+impl Default for LoadedEnvironment {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            recipes: Vec::new(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl LoadedEnvironment {
+    pub fn new(repo: &Path) -> Self {
+        let paths = fs::read_dir(repo).unwrap();
+        let mut env = LoadedEnvironment::default();
+        for path in paths {
+            let path = path.expect("Failed to unwrap path");
+            env.recipes.push(TomlRecipe::new(&path.path()))
+        }
+        env
+    }
+
+    pub fn print(&self) {
+        for recipe in &self.recipes {
+            recipe.print();
+            println!();
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+pub fn main() {
+    let cli = Cli::parse();
+    let repo = Path::new(&cli.repo);
+    let env = LoadedEnvironment::new(repo);
+    env.print();
+    // let recipe = TomlRecipe::default();
+    // recipe.print();
+
+    println!("{}", repo.display());
+}
diff --git a/modular-recipes/code/recipe/.gitignore b/modular-recipes/code/recipe/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..869df07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modular-recipes/code/recipe/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+/target
+Cargo.lock
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/modular-recipes/code/recipe/Cargo.toml b/modular-recipes/code/recipe/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a135500
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modular-recipes/code/recipe/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+[package]
+name = "recipe"
+version = "0.1.0"
+edition = "2021"
+
+[dependencies]
+serde = { version = "1.0.215", features = ["derive"] }
+toml = "0.8.19"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/modular-recipes/code/recipe/src/lib.rs b/modular-recipes/code/recipe/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6203a63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modular-recipes/code/recipe/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+mod recipe;
+
+pub use crate::recipe::TomlRecipe;
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+}
diff --git a/modular-recipes/code/recipe/src/recipe.rs b/modular-recipes/code/recipe/src/recipe.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b9ef33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modular-recipes/code/recipe/src/recipe.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use std::fs;
+use std::path::Path;
+
+use std::collections::BTreeMap;
+
+#[derive(Hash, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize, Debug)]
+pub struct Input {}
+
+#[derive(Hash, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize, Debug)]
+pub struct Output {}
+
+#[derive(Hash, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize, Debug)]
+pub struct Dependency {}
+
+#[derive(Hash, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize, Serialize, Debug)]
+pub struct Config {}
+
+// Recipe which can get read out of a toml file
+#[derive(Deserialize, Serialize, Debug)]
+pub struct TomlRecipe {
+    name: String,
+    inputs: BTreeMap<String, Input>,
+    outputs: BTreeMap<String, Output>,
+    dependencies: BTreeMap<String, Dependency>,
+    config: Config,
+}
+
+impl Default for TomlRecipe {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            name: String::new(),
+            inputs: BTreeMap::new(),
+            outputs: BTreeMap::new(),
+            dependencies: BTreeMap::new(),
+            config: Config {},
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl TomlRecipe {
+    pub fn new(config_file: &Path) -> Self {
+        let file: String = fs::read_to_string(&config_file).expect("Could not read input file");
+        let recipe: TomlRecipe = toml::from_str(&file).expect("Could not parse TOML file");
+        recipe
+    }
+    pub fn print(&self) {
+        println!("{} ---------------", self.name);
+        println!(" INPUTS");
+        for (key, _) in &self.inputs {
+            println!(" * {}", key);
+        }
+        println!();
+        println!(" OUTPUTS");
+        for (key, _) in &self.outputs {
+            println!(" * {}", key);
+        }
+        println!();
+        println!(" DEPENDENCIES");
+        for (key, _) in &self.dependencies {
+            println!(" * {}", key);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/modular-recipes/code/todo.md b/modular-recipes/code/todo.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dd485ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modular-recipes/code/todo.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+1. recipe visualizer using mermaid or some other charting library
+