Please Help Me To Be A Better Vegan Gainer.

Hi professor,

I became a vegan on the last 6 month and decided to try and keep being like that for the rest of my life to prevent from hurting animals...

My problem is that now I have difficulties in gaining weight because of my vegan diet which contains a very low amount of calories.  I actually lose 8 lbs!

Do you know any vegan food or snacks that are fattening?  I'm not so picky about this but I prefer them to be healthy, but still it isn't a must.

P.S. Sorry for my poor English, your blog is simply amazing.

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While being a vegan can be challenging in a non-vegan world, there are certainly some items that can help with your gaining.  As you no doubt know, there are a number of non-dairy products you can substitute for milk or cream.  For example, in our household, we often use almond milk, which provides more absorbable calcium than dairy. There’s also rice milk and coconut milk.  Coconut milk is something very fattening, but you should try to use it periodically rather than constantly, since the fat in coconut milk is not as healthy for you as some other types of fat.

The easiest solution is to make vegan style “milkshakes” or “smoothies” to enjoy with your regular meals, or to use in between meals to kick up the calories. I looked at the recipe sections under Bellybuilders and Fantasyfeeder.  Here are two examples from the gaining community:

Vegan “Milkshake”

1 450g (1Lb) tin mango slices in syrup
1 400ml tin coconut milk

Simply blend it all together, strain (to remove stringy bits from the mango) and serve.

68g fat
90g sugar
6g protein
990 calories

And here's a Vegan Fruit Smoothie from Bellybuilders:

Vegan Fruit Smoothie

:
 5OZ of frozen fruit (Chopped)
1/2 cup Canola oil (Or vegetable, or olive. Canola's the 'healthiest' of these)
1/2 water or fruit juice (Apple or Orange works best)

What you end up with is a thick cool smoothie that makes a small glass compared to other smoothies and it contains roughly 1000 calories per batch. Recommended smoothie blends so far are:
Strawberry banana with apple juice (Great for those salad/soup/sandwich meals)
Orange Mango with Orange Juice (or water)

What happens is that the fruit sucks up most of the oil into it, retaining its calories, but the fiber allows it to be easily digested, not giving one a stomachache. The fruit (and/or juice) masks the taste of the raw oil, and the oil acts as a thickener (in more ways than one.)

Each blend makes a little more than a cup of smoothie (12 oz) and contains a little over 1000 calories. Not enough to fill someone up on one go, but enough to eat a meal along with.

And here’s a very simple snack to make that does not require baking: Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls

1 lb confectionary sugar
18 oz peanut butter
1 stick veggie butter substitute, softened

Roll into large ball in bowl.
Chill in bowl (about an hour?)
Roll small balls
Dip into chocolate (you can use “hot chocolate powder” mix for this)  Keep stored in your refrigerator.

And remember rice is your friend.

Vegan Banana Rice Pudding

Ingredients

·         1 cup brown basmati rice

·         2 cups water

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         3 cups plus 1 tablespoon gluten-free vanilla rice milk, divided (see Tip)

·         1/3 cup light brown sugar

·         1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for garnish

·         1 tablespoon cornstarch

·         4 ripe bananas, divided

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1.         Combine rice, water and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until the liquid is fully absorbed, 45 to 50 minutes.

2.        Stir in 3 cups rice milk, brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and bring to a lively simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir cornstarch and the remaining 1 tablespoon rice milk in a small bowl until smooth; add to the pudding. Continue cooking, stirring often, until the mixture is the consistency of porridge, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

3.        Mash 2 bananas in a small bowl. Stir the mashed bananas and vanilla into the pudding. Transfer to a large bowl, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours.

4.        Just before serving, slice the remaining 2 bananas. Top each serving with a few slices of banana and sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired.

5.        Tip: Some brands of rice milk may contain gluten. Gluten-free brands include Pacific Natural Foods or 365 Organic.

And here’s one that would work well if you add tofu, which will provide you a tasty meal:

Heat a tablespoon of sesame oil in a pan. Add 3oz pine nuts, 3oz cashews and 1 finely chopped onion. Cook over a medium heat until the onion begins to soften. Add 6 shredded sundried tomatoes, plus 1 cup of rinsed basmati rice. Add a couple of teaspoons of soy sauce, and enough water to cover with half an inch. Simmer until the rice has absorbed the water and is cooked. Stir in a large handful of veggies, such as spinach, or whatever you enjoy. Personally I add fresh basil to almost everything because I have a lot of it growing on our patio.

Enjoy your way to some more pounds and tighter pants.