How many times have you stood in your kitchen and wondered what you were going to make for dinner? What about those times when you want to plan a dinner with friends but skip it because pulling a meal together is too much work?

What if you had a one stop resource to make meal planning, and preparing, successful? To plan a meal every chef needs a few items. Once you have these basic items at your fingertips, meal planning and preparing really can be a simple process. Here are the 'must haves' to make this possible.

Recipes. It is incredibly important to have somewhere to go first off to put a meal together. Depending on the meal you may need anywhere from one to a handful of recipes. Chefs usually need a whole encyclopedia of recipes for a complete meal including starters and dessert.

Tools. Creating a meal without the proper tools is like creating a painting without paintbrushes. You don't have to have fancy tools, however it does pay to have quality ones. That way your baking pans, spatulas, and whisks are not breaking in the middle of making a meal. Of course there are some tools that just making cooking more fun like palm peelers, cookie presses, and a culinary torch.

What about tools that make cooking easier? Professional blenders like the VitaMix get any job done quickly and cleanup is unbelievably simple. The NuWave oven makes it possible to make a five course meal in one shot and in half the time it would normally take.

Pantry Staples. When you're preparing a meal there's nothing worse than opening your spice cabinet or pantry and finding that you don't have what you need. Stock your pantry with the supreme gourmet pantry items like spices, sauces, and rubs.