I am new to the forum and veganism.  I have been vegan for about a month along with my five sons.  As most of us needed to lose a lot of weight this has been great. For my oldest child, however, this has not been helpful.  He was already underweight to begin with and has lost more weight. I am wondering what are healthy non-junk vegan foods to fatten him up a healthy way.  He is also a picky eater.

Avacado, flax oil, peanut butter.

If he is really active he probably needs to increase his calories.

My son loves peanut butter (or another nut butter) smoothies! Some kind of vegan ice cream, vegan milk (we love almond milk) peanut butter. You could also add a banana.

You could probably use come vegan yogurt, instead of ice cream, although I have never tried one that way.

I make mac uncheeze with a cashew sauce. My son, who always disliked regular mac and cheese loves the cashew sauce.

I believe there are also some vegan nutritional powders that you could look into adding to his foods. 

Does he like hummus? You could add some extra tahini for extra fat and calories.

Does he like legumes? Finding ways to add lots of them can really help increase his protein and calorie intake. Making various dips, soups, etc. might help find some things he does like.

I know you want to avoid junk foods, but for a very picky child, who may not be getting enough nutrients, making very gradual changes to the diet. If he likes junk foods, find ways to change those foods into things which are more nutritious. For example, make him muffins with ground flax seeds and bananas, or other veggies for fruit. If he won't eat veggies, find ways to add them to things, like kale fruit smoothes, or zucchini and carrot bread.

You can google most anything you want to make, vegan. There are also some great cook books out there.

Hope something helps.

-Ellie

Thanks for both of your responses. I guess I am already on the right track.  I make him smoothies with organic vegan brown rice protein powder and almond milk. I add a banana, organic peanut butter, and ground flaxmeal.  I also add Kidz Superfood by Amazing Grass. It is made with organic ingredients and is also vegan.  It is a blend of green, orange, yellow, red, blue, and purple fruits and vegetables.  The Stevia in it makes the whole drink sweet.  I also make whole wheat muffins and breads with a variety of ingredients ranging from bran, flax, apples, raisins, peaches, pineapples, etc.  I also sneak in spagetti squash blended in the blender. He loves zuccini bread, but hates banana bread. Go figure.  He also loves edamame and lima beans.  On occassion I use vegan chickenless patties, too.  I think the key is going to be to increase calories throughout the day. I definitely want to to try the mac uncheeze because he never liked the real thing either, but he does love cashews.

I have wanted to get him hemp protein powder, but I will have to order it. The local health food store carries one brand, but it contains milk.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

My son also hate banana bread. Actually, he hate bananas or anything with bananas in it.  He might just have a high metabolism. If he is eating all that, I doubt he is not getting what he needs.

Maybe you can replace some of the water he drinks with juices. Juice would be one of the easiest way to up his calories.

Juice is a good idea. I don't buy any juice right now and he loves orange juice. My son also hates all things banana, but if I mask the taste in a smoothie he is fine with it.

We have a juicer. It's one of the best investments I've made. We make fresh juice almost daily. 

I used to be able to hide banana in things, but he is too good at detecting now.

When I first went vegan, I lost a lot of weight.  Since then my doctor has given me permission to eat lots of COCONUT!!!  It is so yummy and although high in fat, my nutritionist has told me for this type of diet it is a okay (especially when trying to gain some weight)  Coconut ice cream, coconut yogurt, and coconut butter are some of my fav treats (it's also great in smoothies)  Good luck!

Thanks for that suggestion, that might be a great addition to his diet. I might have to avoid it though, unfortunately.  What about cooking with coconut oil? Do you use it? I have been wondering if it is safe. I have read it is safer than other oils because it doesn't become a carcinogen at high temps like other oils, but I want to make sure it is safe for our arteries.

I do use coconut oil when I am baking muffins and sweets... my nutritionist told me that this is okay in moderation but it is still a saturated fat.  Like you said, its good to use when cooking at high temps ..since most saturated fat comes from meat in many peoples diets I figure we do need to get a little of it somehow! :) 

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it

Coconut milk, Raw young coconuts, Walnuts, lots of fresh fruits. Those are favorites with my 6 kids. I will make Coconut Super Food Cupcakes and they demolish those. avacados are another great source, I macke a chocolate pudding out of them and you could never tell its dairy free!

Hi all! Where can I find the Mac and Uncheeze recipe? It sounds delicious!!!

These hints are all really helpful, my son is underweight (has been since birth, he was preemie, growth restricted and had 'failure to thrive') and we have just been told by a hospital nutritionist that we need to feed him more full fat milk/cheese etc to fatten him up. We are not a vegetarian/vegan family (yet) but have always eaten a mix of 'regular' and 'vegetarian' foods, such as tofu (a firm favourite with the twins), soy and rice milks, etc. I would much rather be transitioning my son off dairy than giving him more. Hopefully he will gain some weight using your advice as well.