Are you really creative when it comes to creating interesting new food combinations? Would you like to make some money cooking, not to mention earning some fame and recognition for your abilities in the kitchen?

Then maybe entering recipes contests might be for you!

Each year hundreds of companies host competitions for creating recipes using their products. It’s a great way to raise awareness of a particular food, like the Gnarly Head Ribs Recipe Contest or a cooking style, like the Taste of Home Healthy in 30 minutes Recipe Contest (healthy dishes taking less than 30 minutes to prepare).

Here are some tips on how you can become an “Award-winning” recipe creator:

Know the deadline: Most recipe competitions have a specific deadline that you have to submit before. Miss it and your recipe won’t even be considered.

Make sure you’re eligible: Some cooking contests are only for individuals of a specific state, age group or subscribers of the sponsoring magazine. Know who can win before you spend the time creating.

Don’t submit something you found on the Internet: If it is not yours, don’t enter it. If you started with a standard recipe and changed it, you should be ok.

Include a photo: Food always looks better in a photo than on a list of ingredients and directions. Show your food off for the recipe judges and you’ll increase your chances to win.

Know what the prize is:  A recipe contest with a $5,000 first prize will have a lot more competition than one with a $500 prize or a Kindle for the winner. All are fun to win, but expect the bigger the prize, the more work you will have to put in to have a winning recipe entry.

Have fun: At the end of the day, you want to have fun making new recipes and entering recipe contests. Remember,I don’t know anyone who makes a living at winning recipe competitions.

Save your recipes: You might only select one of two recipes to submit to a particular recipe competition, but you might stumble across several recipes that your family and friends may love. Use FamilyCookbookProject.com to store your recipes and pull them up later when it’s time to feed your family something new!

Bill Rice is Co-Publisher of the Great Family Cookbook Project, a website that helps families and individuals collect and share food memories. Follow us on Facebook and Pinterest!