diff --git a/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/dto/RecipeDto.java b/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/dto/RecipeDto.java
index e7645b8..22feb25 100644
--- a/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/dto/RecipeDto.java
+++ b/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/dto/RecipeDto.java
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ public class RecipeDto {
     private Integer prepTimeMinutes;
     private Integer cookTimeMinutes;
     private Integer servings;
-    private Integer userId;
+    private UserDto userDto;
     private String status;
     private List<RecipeIngredientDto> ingredients;
     
@@ -22,14 +22,14 @@ public class RecipeDto {
 	}
 
 	public RecipeDto(String title, String description, Integer prepTimeMinutes, Integer cookTimeMinutes,
-			Integer servings, Integer userId, String status, List<RecipeIngredientDto> ingredients) {
+			Integer servings, UserDto userDto, String status, List<RecipeIngredientDto> ingredients) {
 		super();
 		this.title = title;
 		this.description = description;
 		this.prepTimeMinutes = prepTimeMinutes;
 		this.cookTimeMinutes = cookTimeMinutes;
 		this.servings = servings;
-		this.userId = userId;
+		this.userDto = userDto;
 		this.status = status;
 		this.ingredients = ingredients;
 	}
@@ -66,12 +66,6 @@ public class RecipeDto {
 	public void setServings(Integer servings) {
 		this.servings = servings;
 	}
-	public Integer getUserId() {
-		return userId;
-	}
-	public void setUserId(Integer userId) {
-		this.userId = userId;
-	}
 	public String getStatus() {
 		return status;
 	}
@@ -84,5 +78,14 @@ public class RecipeDto {
 	public void setIngredients(List<RecipeIngredientDto> ingredients) {
 		this.ingredients = ingredients;
 	}
+
+	public UserDto getUserDto() {
+		return userDto;
+	}
+
+	public void setUserDto(UserDto userDto) {
+		this.userDto = userDto;
+	}
+	
     
 }
diff --git a/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/dto/UserDto.java b/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/dto/UserDto.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7941a83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/dto/UserDto.java
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+package com.example.demo.dto;
+
+public class UserDto {
+    private Integer id;
+
+    public UserDto() {}
+
+    public UserDto(Integer id) {
+        this.id = id;
+    }
+
+    public Integer getId() {
+        return id;
+    }
+
+    public void setId(Integer id) {
+        this.id = id;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/entity/Recipe.java b/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/entity/Recipe.java
index 8f0e7a0..c4ee101 100644
--- a/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/entity/Recipe.java
+++ b/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/entity/Recipe.java
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package com.example.demo.entity;
 
 import jakarta.persistence.*;
+import lombok.EqualsAndHashCode;
+
 import java.math.BigDecimal;
 import java.time.LocalDateTime;
 import java.util.HashSet;
@@ -23,14 +25,17 @@ public class Recipe {
     private Integer cookTimeMinutes;
     private Integer servings;
 
-    @Column(name = "user_id", nullable = false)
-    private Integer userId;
-
     private String status;
 
     private LocalDateTime createdAt;
     private LocalDateTime updatedAt;
-
+    
+    @ManyToOne(fetch = FetchType.LAZY)
+    @JoinColumn(name = "user_id", nullable = false)
+    @EqualsAndHashCode.Include
+    private User user;
+    
+    
     // Recipe ingredients relationship
     @OneToMany(mappedBy = "recipe", cascade = CascadeType.ALL, orphanRemoval = true, fetch = FetchType.LAZY)
     private Set<RecipeIngredient> recipeIngredients = new HashSet<>();
@@ -41,13 +46,13 @@ public class Recipe {
 
     // Convenience constructor
     public Recipe(String title, String description, Integer prepTimeMinutes, Integer cookTimeMinutes,
-                  Integer servings, Integer userId, String status) {
+                  Integer servings, User user, String status) {
         this.title = title;
         this.description = description;
         this.prepTimeMinutes = prepTimeMinutes;
         this.cookTimeMinutes = cookTimeMinutes;
         this.servings = servings;
-        this.userId = userId;
+        this.user = user;
         this.status = status;
         this.createdAt = LocalDateTime.now();
         this.updatedAt = LocalDateTime.now();
@@ -82,8 +87,17 @@ public class Recipe {
     public Integer getId() { return id; }
     public void setId(Integer id) { this.id = id; }
 
-    public String getTitle() { return title; }
+    public User getUser() {
+		return user;
+	}
+
+	public void setUser(User user) {
+		this.user = user;
+	}
+
+	public String getTitle() { return title; }
     public void setTitle(String title) { this.title = title; }
+    
 
     public String getDescription() { return description; }
     public void setDescription(String description) { this.description = description; }
@@ -97,9 +111,6 @@ public class Recipe {
     public Integer getServings() { return servings; }
     public void setServings(Integer servings) { this.servings = servings; }
 
-    public Integer getUserId() { return userId; }
-    public void setUserId(Integer userId) { this.userId = userId; }
-
     public String getStatus() { return status; }
     public void setStatus(String status) { this.status = status; }
 
diff --git a/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/entity/User.java b/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/entity/User.java
index 4ebdf7b..b32a9a7 100644
--- a/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/entity/User.java
+++ b/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/entity/User.java
@@ -1,12 +1,17 @@
 package com.example.demo.entity;
 
 import jakarta.persistence.Entity;
+import jakarta.persistence.FetchType;
 import jakarta.persistence.Table;
 import jakarta.persistence.Id;
+import jakarta.persistence.OneToMany;
 import jakarta.persistence.GeneratedValue;
 import jakarta.persistence.GenerationType;
+import jakarta.persistence.CascadeType;
 import jakarta.persistence.Column;
 import java.time.LocalDateTime;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Set;
 
 @Entity
 @Table(name = "users")
@@ -28,9 +33,13 @@ public class User {
 
     @Column(name = "created_at")
     private LocalDateTime createdAt;
+    
+    // User Recipe relationship
+    @OneToMany(mappedBy = "user", cascade = CascadeType.ALL, orphanRemoval = true, fetch = FetchType.LAZY)
+    private Set<Recipe> recipes = new HashSet<>();
 
     // Constructors
-    public User() {} // default constructor required by JPA
+    public User() {}
 
     public User(String username, String role, String email, String hashedpassword, LocalDateTime createdAt) {
         this.username = username;
@@ -40,7 +49,7 @@ public class User {
         this.createdAt = createdAt;
     }
 
-    // Getters and Setters
+    
     public Integer getId() { return id; }
     public void setId(Integer id) { this.id = id; }
 
diff --git a/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/service/Impl/RecipeServiceImpl.java b/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/service/Impl/RecipeServiceImpl.java
index bcd5cce..0b93223 100644
--- a/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/service/Impl/RecipeServiceImpl.java
+++ b/demo/src/main/java/com/example/demo/service/Impl/RecipeServiceImpl.java
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import java.util.List;
 import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;
 
 import com.example.demo.dto.RecipeDto;
+import com.example.demo.dto.UserDto;
 import com.example.demo.dto.RecipeIngredientDto;
 import com.example.demo.entity.Ingredient;
 import com.example.demo.entity.Recipe;
@@ -15,22 +16,26 @@ import com.example.demo.exception.NotFoundException;
 import com.example.demo.repository.IngredientRepo;
 import com.example.demo.repository.RecipeIngredientRepo;
 import com.example.demo.repository.RecipeRepo;
+import com.example.demo.repository.UserRepo;
 import com.example.demo.service.RecipeService;
 
 import jakarta.transaction.Transactional;
 
 @Service
 public class RecipeServiceImpl implements RecipeService{
+
 	
 private RecipeRepo recipeRepository;
 private IngredientRepo ingredientRepository;
 private RecipeIngredientRepo recipeIngredientRepository;
+private UserRepo userRepository;
 	
-	public RecipeServiceImpl(RecipeRepo recipeRepository, IngredientRepo ingredientRepository, RecipeIngredientRepo recipeIngredientRepository) {
+	public RecipeServiceImpl(RecipeRepo recipeRepository, IngredientRepo ingredientRepository, RecipeIngredientRepo recipeIngredientRepository, UserRepo userRepository) {
 		super();
 		this.recipeRepository = recipeRepository;
 		this.ingredientRepository = ingredientRepository;
 		this.recipeIngredientRepository = recipeIngredientRepository;
+		this.userRepository = userRepository;
 	}
 	
 	public RecipeDto convertToDto(Recipe recipe) {
@@ -42,14 +47,15 @@ private RecipeIngredientRepo recipeIngredientRepository;
 	                ri.getNotes()
 	        ))
 	        .toList();
-
+	    
+	    UserDto userDto = new UserDto(recipe.getUser().getId());
 	    return new RecipeDto(
 	        recipe.getTitle(),
 	        recipe.getDescription(),
 	        recipe.getPrepTimeMinutes(),
 	        recipe.getCookTimeMinutes(),
 	        recipe.getServings(),
-	        recipe.getUserId(),
+	        userDto,
 	        recipe.getStatus(),
 	        ingredientDtos
 	    );
@@ -57,14 +63,17 @@ private RecipeIngredientRepo recipeIngredientRepository;
 
 	@Override
     public RecipeDto saveRecipe(RecipeDto dto) {
+		
+		User user = userRepository.findById(dto.getUserDto().getId())
+			    .orElseThrow(() -> new NotFoundException("User", "id", dto.getUserDto().getId()));
 
         Recipe recipe = new Recipe(
                 dto.getTitle(),
                 dto.getDescription(),
-                dto.getPrepTimeMinutes(),
+                dto.getPrepTimeMinutes(),+
                 dto.getCookTimeMinutes(),
                 dto.getServings(),
-                dto.getUserId(),
+                user,
                 dto.getStatus()
         );