Free soul food recipe sites continue to grow in popularity. As a service to new cooks and recipe enthusiast here’s a collection of the most popular side dishes. Soul food recipes continue to grow in popularity as more people flock to preparing more meals at home instead of eating out. People have a history of gravitating to comfort foods in times of economic downturns. Free soul food recipe sites continue to blossom to meet the needs of this quietly growing demand. Here’s a list of the most popular side dishes of this historically popular southern cuisines. Try one today to get that southern comfort food feeling.

1. Black Eye Peas – This popular soul food legume originated on the continent of Africa, and came to southern states as early as the 1600’s. The black eye pea is still one of the most popular soul food side dishes. Many African American homes have a tradition of eating a meal of black eyed peas each New Years Day to bring good luck or blessings in the coming year. Black eyed peas is an excellent source of calcium, folate, vitamin A and fiber.

2. Collard Greens – This traditional southern dish, grown year around, has a reputation as one of the healthiest soul food menu items. Collard greens is an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin A and fiber. They also contain various nutrients containing anti-cancer ingredients. Southern cooks season collards with smoked meat or poultry for added flavor. The liquid resulting from the cooked collard greens, called potlikker, it moistens the dish when eating corn bread for added flavor. Traditionally collard greens are eaten a New Years to encourage wealth attraction in the coming year. Note how collard greens resemble folded money or greenbacks.

3. Hot Water Cornbread – This traditional southern bread is an excellent accompaniment to black eye peas and cornbread. This bread, cooked on the stovetop, goes back hundreds of years. This popular quick bread, cooked in an iron skillet for best results, remains a favorite soul food addition. The batter includes boiling water and self-rising cornmeal. To add to the firmness of the bread add a small amount of wheat flour. Next spoon batter in a skillet of hot oil and cook until golden brown on the outside and moist and fluffy on the inside. A coating of melted butter completes the cooking process.

These are small samples of the 3 most popular soul food dishes. Take your pick or try them all when you need that southern comfort food feeling.

The first Thomas Train Movie was the “Thomas and the Magic Railroad.” This was released in 2000 with great reviews from any child that watched it. It is described and packed with thrills, spills, whistles, and steam.

The story line follows a little girl named Lily that is off to see her lonely Grandfather. The trip is the adventure she encounters once she meets the world most famous steam engine, “Thomas” along with the magical Mr. Conductor. The plot follows the classic theme of good versus evil and how these three transverse the magical make believe world.

The second movie named “Calling All Engines” came out in 2005 again to rave reviews by all the children that have seen it. This movie went straight to DVD sales and portrays the characters that have been in the first 8 seasons of the TV series. The songs in this movie are, “Busy”, “Try To Do Things Better”, “Together We Made It Happen”, “New Engine Roll Call”, and “The Dream Song”.

The “Great Discovery” was released in 2008. This had a guest narrator of Pierce Brosnan. This motion picture was shown at the theaters across America. This was the last of the production pictures that relied on practical effects. From this point on CGI faces and people were mapped into the live action stories and the future productions of Thomas the Train use this CGI animation technique. The songs in this movie are “Racing the Wharf”, “Jobs a Plenty”,” Where, Oh, Where is Thomas”, “The Engine Roll Call” and “Thomas, You’re the Leader”.

The Movie “Hero of the Rails” was released in 2009. This was the first motion picture featuring Thomas the Train in CGI animation. The narrator was Michael Angelis and along with this was the introduction of an original pop rock song of Go Go Thomas.

There is a scheduled release of a Thomas Train movie in 2010, but the title and story line have yet to be revealed.