import re
text = "This is the first line of the file.\nhere we tell you to make a tea.\n\nstep 1\n\nPour more than enough water for a cup of tea into a regular pot, and bring it to a boil.\n\nstep \n2\n\nThis will prevent the steeping water from dropping in temperature as soon as it is poured in.\n\nstep 3 \n\n\nWhen using tea bags, the measuring has already been done for you - generally it's one tea bag per cup."
results = re.findall(r'^step\s*(\d+)\s*(.*?)\s*(?=^step\s*\d|\Z)', text, re.DOTALL | re.MULTILINE)
print(dict([("step{}".format(x),y) for x,y in results]))

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