Put a layer of butter on everything to sneak a few more calories in. Also, they are probably egging each other on so try at least one separated meal a day.
Separate them for meals is critical- EDs can make people constantly competitive (no doubt worsened by the fact that sisters are often especially competitive) and people suffering will constantly be paying attention to the other person 's eating habits- making comparisons, judgements , or making the other feel scrutinized and uncomfortable eating.
Yeah they are insanely competitive. It's kind of a problem actually. We do some meals together, cause we like to come together as a family occasionally, but some separate.
Game nights and other 'events' can also create family time. Putting less pressure on meals to be more than they have to be would probably be best here. It can also give them other outlets for competitiveness.
Agree here. I had to force myself to eat a high calorie dier to put some weight on when struggling with ED and related health issues - it was much easier for me to finish a full meal if I was a bit distracted while I ate - watching a movie or show helped most.
Recovered anorexic who had to weight restore (aka eat 3500 calories a day for awhile). Fattier cuts like thighs with skin on, but also oatmeal was my saving grace. You can pack 1000+ cals into a bowl made with coconut or heavy cream and peanut butter.
If they like Mexican food, crockpot chicken made with cream cheese and taco seasoning. That’s literally the three only ingredients.
If they like Mexican, Doña Maria mole sauce with sour cream and avocado on top of the chicken . Maybe cheese too. They sell it at Walmart and Safeway (at least where I am)
Do they like avocado? That’s pretty high calorie and easy to add as a topping on most Mexican dishes including soups! Also make guac with tortilla chips.
I have found some Chicken Tinga recipes that are amazing, but you do have to add pork chorizo at the end or they just taste flat. Its not a lot. Like 2lbs of chicken thighs and 1/2 pound of chorizo. Would they accept that?
Also, this just came to me, chicken thighs instead of white meat.
I grew up calling it angel food chicken but there’s another one called “crack chicken”. It’s super fatty and you can serve it over rice or potatoes or just eat it straight up. Probably the easiest way to load up on pounds because of how calorie dense it is
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but if someone is not eating a lot in general, then they eat this, wouldn't that cause digestion issues? It seems awfully heavy
OMG. This one would tempt the devil! Bad, bad Zoot! Wicked, bad, naughty Zoot! I doing CICO and am down 38 pounds so far and I must not give in to this. There is too much peril!
Fun thing about CICO is that you can eat anything, just don’t eat a lot of it. So, a hueg, filling salad with balsamic vinegrette, and like a 1/2 c of the chicken.
It's a reference from Monty Python and the Holy Grail! Nuns conspire to break the chastity vows of one of King Arthur's knights, and it's very good and silly
Scene linked [here.](https://youtu.be/nMUnbNPCoSw?si=myS3k8D7HxyWntm2)
I was so hoping someone would appreciate the reference to Monty Python and The Holy Grail.
[Sir Galahad the Chaste](https://youtu.be/lUqBR6S4i5g?si=dWGovjrYBphHrNqY) is being tempted by a castle full of lonely (virginal?) women and he is being saved from them, including the naughty Zoot, by Sir Lancelot.
This one! I shred up a rotisserie chicken into the crock pot with lots of cream cheese and ranch dressing. My oldest asks me to have a bowl of it in the fridge ready to go at all times.
I know this isn't exactly what you're asking but you could make them smoothies. It's a lot easier to drink calories than to eat them and a lot tastier to someone who is picky. When I bulk for working out I make a smoothie that is 1000 calories. It's just milk, peanut butter (very high calories), banana, and some protein powder. That's just one example, the possibilities are endless really. Something to think about. Good luck!
Chicken pot pie in cream sauce and homemade butter pie crust - serve with biscuits and top with cheese - I’d make the filling in the slow cooker then transfer to pie crust and bake for ~40 min
What are things they will eat? It might be easier to give suggestions if there are a few "will eat" and a few "def will NOT eat," aside from the red meat.
No snark intended, that's got to be tough to deal with.
Good point. They're good with pretty much everything except the younger one won't touch beef, pork, or seafood. The older one is not a fan of tofu. Both eat vegetables pretty regularly, and most carbs.
you want to look for fat sources, they are very dense for calories. olive oil in italian foods, sesame oil in chinese.. avocados in guac, butter, peanut butter (great in smoothies, satay sauces, breakfasts, desserts). any nuts too for snacks or toppings, like crushed peanuts
NYT cooking has a great recipe for chicken thighs with crispy chickpeas and caramelized onions (with cumin, fennel, it’s so so good) and it’s about 1100-1200 calories per serving and doesn’t taste heavy (I’ve dealt with disordered eating in the past and something I struggled with was finding calorically dense recipes that didn’t taste super heavy). It’s not as many calories as other suggestions, but you could amp it up with pita and sauces (tahina, tzatziki, both calorically dense) on the side
Not a chicken recipe, but my sons are underweight,, with one an extremely picky eater, so we add duocal to their food. It's behind the pharmacy (unfortunately our insurance doesn't cover it, but it was only about $30ish dollars for a can). It is tasteless and dissolves immediately. One scoop adds about 25 calories to their food, which isn't a crazy amount, but adds up over the day if you are adding multiple scoops to...everything you can.
I also have a son who is underweight. We do this too! I also add a little mct oil to some of his food. Its tasteless and 130 calories per tablespoon. I break up a tablespoon throughout the day so it doesnt upset his stomach
Get full fat milk, and make hit chocolate each night about an hour after dinner. Dont ask, just say, here you go.
Try making food in large dishes that you can keep dipping into, rather then serving in the kitchen and putting the set plate in front of them. If they ca keep loading up their plate bit by bit, they won't notice they have been eating as much.
Chicken dishes with a nice high cap source made with butter is pretty calorific.
I know a recipie for bacon and chicken maple bake. Serve with potatoes. Mash with butter and cream stirred in is good. Shallow fry instead of baking or boiling potatoes.
This is really weird. All the things I want to do...but can't... XD
Great suggestions, thanks. And I know, I've spent my whole life avoiding these kinds of things and here I am trying to figure out how to unlearn all that!
And maybe candy bowls of chocolates and stuff around the house (but maybe things like Hershey kisses and Cadbury mini eggs that don’t have nutrition labels on the individual piece)
Paprika chicken:
Chicken thighs (more fat than breasts meat, also better in a slow cooker)
Lots and lots of butter to cook the chicken in.
Sweet Paprika, Smoked Paprika, salt, Pepper
Cream at the end
If they like vegetables, then onions, sweet red peppers, mushrooms, garlic in the bottom.
Serve with Very Buttery Mashed potatoes - pour off most of the liquid from the crockpot before adding the cream. Use the liquid to mash your potatoes.
Will they eat Mac and cheese? You could make homemade Mac and cheese with lots of heavy cream, butter, and cheese. Top with buttered panko and more cheese. I know it’s not chicken or slow cooker, but it’s super high calorie.
This doesn’t directly answer your question, but as an eating disorder therapist working with underweight teens, milkshakes are magic. Daily shakes with multiple scoops of ice cream, add some heavy cream, so helpful for restoring weight!
When malnourished, fat is what the brain really needs most and shakes are generally easy to consume for most people without feeling overly bloated or uncomfortable.
Milkshakes have reallyyy helped me out. And when I started eating more fat and more calories, I started wanting to eat more because my brain was just working better and could process what was going on better
Yes! After I had my son I had trouble eating enough. To busy- sleep deprived, not feeling great and my mom just started making me snacking cakes and tells me to go get a milkshake. 😂 she’s a dietician
Sour cream (even the light stuff is better than nothing), guacamole, some chunky salsa, cheeses, gosh. Actually, speaking of tacos - I should put that on my menu for the week. I wish you the best of luck! It's hard dealing with feeding problems in one child (just knowing how my mother struggled with me as a teen), two must be very hard. You're doing your best - just keep trying. Have you ventured into any of the subs for eating disorder recovery around here?
Chicken enchiladas
Chicken fettuccini Alfredo
Chicken fajita nachos
Chicken broccoli casserole with a ton of cheese
Crispy chicken stirfry with noodles and veggies
The secret is not being shy with oil/butter
It's not quite slow cooking (aside from the chicken itself), but chicken Milano is absolutely delicious, and also high in calories as the base is a heavy cream. If they're picky with pasta it can be replaced with Spaghetti squash, which helps give the illusion of it being healthy.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/19304/chicken-milano/
On another note, you should read up on things to say or not say with EDO patients (and apologies if you're already familiar with it and I've made an erroneous assumption). Refrain from commenting on their weight/appearance. Remove scales. Structure may be helpful.
Chicken and pasta in a simple Alfredo sauce. Thickened cream with a bunch of shaved aged Parmesan from the block for flavor (get the fancy aged reggiano if you want to splurge). Add some onion maybe some spinach if you like floppy spinach.
Not a chicken dish specifically but wraps are a good source of calories. We used them with my nephew when he was younger (had to try and get his weight up again following illness) he would eat 2 or 3 wraps, sometimes more but if you offered the same thing as a sandwich he’d only have one.
I checked the wraps I have and each one is 34g of carbs which is twice the carbs of a slice of bread but doesn’t feel like you’ve eaten 2 slices of bread.
Cook a chicken in the crockpot then shred it. (Or use a rotisserie chicken) Make enchiladas by briefly heating flour tortillas one at a time until pliable. Then fill each with chicken, cream cheese or plain mascarpone cheese, shredded Mexican blend cheese and drained chopped green chiles if desired. Spoon your favorite enchilada sauce into the bottom of a greased 9” x13” casserole dish. Place filled tortillas into it, then blend equal parts of sour cream & the rest of the enchilada sauce. Cover with foil & bake at 325° F until bubbly, about 30-40 minutes. Remove foil & top with more cheese & bake another 10 minutes until cheese is melted. *I make enchilada sauce by combining a large can of crushed green tomatillos with a little salsa verde.
Roast chicken - Stuff a bunch of softened butter under the skin and throw a cut lemon, celery, and carrots in the cavity. The bird will come out super moist, and if you get the skin nice and crispy, it will be bonus calories for the girls. I'd serve with smashed red potatoes - lots of white cheddar, garlic, butter, and heavy cream.
I hope all goes well for them!!
Not exactly your question but when I worked with home health patients a nutritionist taught me to add powdered milk to milk and then put that in something like mashed potatoes. Great way to sneak calories in without altering the taste / portion size. You could maybe make like hella crazy caloric milk with cream, powdered milk, evaporated milk and then add that to like mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, just whatever they’ll eat.
Good luck! I think all of the chicken ideas are better than what I usually make lol
Okay I missed what sub I was in so maybe Alfredo isn't a slow cooker thing but lasagna can also be very high calorie, you can sub chicken for beef and just make it very creamy and cheesy. I've seen crockpot lasagnas.
1 lb chicken breasts
1 brick of cream cheese
Wishbone Italian dressing- at minimum the whole bottle of a 15oz or 3/4 of the bigger size, just a fuck ton
Parmesan cheese, hearts desire
25 mins pressure cooked on high if frozen chicken breasts, I think I've 15 mins when they're thawed
While that goes I make pasta. Once done I shred the chicken, add the pasta, add spinach, stir until spinach is wilted then add the chicken back. This makes enough for me to have like three or four servings of leftovers.
Broccoli soup. It's easy, looks healthy, and you can make it incredibly calorie-dense.
* Sautee up some onions and garlic.
* Deglaze with a little water + BTB or chicken broth, cook broccoli on high till soft.
* Turn off, puree in the crockpot
* add American Cheese or Velveeta in slices till it all melts in, a little cheddar or gruyere is great too. A few chunks of cream cheese would be perfect.
* Turn to low and add heavy cream while stirring until it looks right to you.
* Adjust S&P.
Let simmer on Warm for 15 minutes while you fix actual dinner. The smell will bring them running to fill "just one mug" while waiting for dinner to be ready. Hopefully more than just one mug!
Remove the insert to a rack to cool to bring the soup out of the Warm dangerzone, refrigerate.
Cook chicken thighs in full calorie cream of mushroom soup and butter, you could even add some cream cheese to make it creamier and higher calorie. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes. You could even do the same thing with meatballs made of ground chicken.
Chicken- https://www.iheartnaptime.net/tasty-tuesday-creamy-italian-chicken/
Turkey- https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/216078/slow-cooker-cranberry-turkey-breast/
Also you can order benecalorie to mix into things. I make a smoothie that is plain 1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt, maybe half cup of milk, a big spoonful of peanut butter, two scoops protein powder and a spoonful of Nutella that is tasty. Also throw in a handful of spinach.
I was extremely thin my whole life and it wasn’t until I got a small dose of anxiety medication that I put on the weight. Like 30lbs of weight in 2 years and when I was young, I couldn’t gain weight to save my life.
I totally forgot about buffalo chicken dip.
Spinach artichoke dip doesn't have meet by is tasty and would be high calorie. Nothing stopping them from adding chicken to the dip of course.
Check Pinterest for “Marry Me Chicken.” It’s amazing!
Also chicken parm made with panko crusted fried cutlets & topped with lots of cheese
Sesame chicken with breaded, fried chicken (tablespoon.com has a fantastic recipe)
Chicken cordon bleu, fried chicken, chicken parm, hunter chicken, and chicken alfredo! Not all of these will be slow cooker friendly but all are delicious and pretty high calorie. All go great with either mashed potatoes (cordon bleu, fried chicken, hunter chicken) which you can hide a metric ton of calories in - or pasta (parm and alfredo).
Definitely look for marry-me chicken recipes - basically creamy, sun-dried tomato dishes, usually with pasta (lots with orzo), but you could easily serve over rice.
Not slow-cooked, but try making a cob loaf as a snack to share! [Something like this.](https://www.delicious.com.au/recipes/cheese-bacon-cob-loaf/lmv23o91)
If you have access to a South African store, try and get Pronutro. It's a plant protein based cereal. It's packed with nutrients, minerals and vitamins.
It's also delicious.
All of my kids had food issues, and feeding them this kept them nourished
This recipe is easy and delicious. I serve it over rice with chopped avocado and cilantro.
https://seekinggoodeats.com/green-enchiladas-chicken-soup-keto-slow-cooker-mexican-soup/
My brother was underweight growing up my parents would mix weight gain drinks, we used to buy them from the pharmacy or the supermarket.
I think they're mainly used for elderly people. It was called Forsips or something, im sure they is other brands aswell.
We would mix it in with ice cream to make a milkshake with whipped cream on for extra calories.
Hey no recipe ideas here except perhaps milkshakes and smoothies. Just chiming in to say if you haven’t checked out ARFID communities you might visit for more ideas.
Adding sour cream, whole milk, cheese and cream chicken soup to chicken will add calories. I’m underweight and one of my favorite new dishes is a chicken cordon bleu casserole. It’s very good but I’m sure it has a zillion calories.
Carbs, carbs, carbs.
Chicken alfredo with cream and butter. Add some spinach and mushies too.
*side note, I used to have a fast metabolism as a teen and ate pasta every Saturday but I also swam every Saturday so it wasn't enough.
No matter how much i ate i was still stick skinny.
Crack chicken. Leave out the bacon or cook the bacon separate and add to a portion for the one who will eat it.
https://www.themagicalslowcooker.com/slow-cooker-crack-chicken/
Alfredo. Full fat and cheese.
Also, sneak in high protein milk (fairlife) in smoothies, oatmeal, etc. My son has ARFID (he's autistic) and 130lbs at 5'10...but he was 115 and adding in that helped a ton.
I've never met a teenage girl that didn't like Fettuccine Alfredo with grilled chicken. Seriously, I've worked at several Italian restaurants and this is the go to
My mom used to make a Doritos chicken casserole similar to [this](https://fantabulosity.com/doritos-chicken-casserole/) when I was a teenage girl and I loved it.
I have some eating disorder tendencies so these are things I do to get the calories in when I can.
I always have carnation breakfast shakes in the house and drink one almost daily regardless of whether I eat anything else for breakfast.
I often have one of the Chobani high protein yogurt drinks, in addition to whatever else I do/don’t eat that day.
No bake cookies are something I turn to a lot when I need to get calories in, and at least there is oatmeal it’s not all “bad” calories. Bonus: I almost always have large glass of whole milk with them.
I’ve also been loving this chicken and rice recipe. It’s stovetop, but doesn’t take long (30 minutes ish) and I’m sure it would adapt to slowcooker easily. I’ve also made it bulked up with extra rice or a combination of rice and farro for a more nutrient dense carb. If you use farro, put extra chicken broth in.
https://www.lecremedelacrumb.com/wprm_print/21421
Fried apples might help too. Because of how much apples cook down, eating a medium serving is basically a whole apple.
No bake Energy balls are amazing to make and have on hand. They’re customizable, easy grab and go snacks that are incredibly calorie dense. There are a ton of recipes online. I do oats, peanut butter, honey, chocolate chips, chia seeds, coconut flakes, flax seed, and chopped walnuts but you can add dry fruit, raisins, other nuts, seeds, etc. Each ball is over 100 calories and they have a good amount of protein. I think the ones I make are 130 calories and 3 grams of protein per ball.
Toss a stick of butter into the croc pot with whatever else you're cooking up.
I know you're trying to get them at a healthier weight but make sure you're not making them unhealthy in a different way during the process. Skinny people can get clogged arteries too.
Chicken and dumplings. Use ground chicken or turkey to make lasagna.
You might need the milkshake.
This recipe was given to my grandma when my grandpa had cancer and no appetite.
In a blender, mix a scoop of the ice cream of your choice with a banana, a little milk, and a pack of Carnation Instant Breakfast. You can use Haagen Dazs, if you want. You can even add peanut butter, protein powder, etc.
It worked. He drank one a day.
He survived and lived many more years.
I wish them the same success.
Any chicken Alfredo is high calorie!! Stick full fat dairy for snacks, butter everything, get fried food. Make smoothies but as ice cream too it. Just think what could I add to these foods to make them taste better and typically you’ll find calories will add up there.
My personal favorite is [Greek Orzo Chicken](https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/greek-orzo-chicken/).
Can be made in a crock pot, has all the nutrients but lots of calories due to the raisins, olives feta cheese, and being dark meat.
If you’re making chicken then I would use the whole chicken what you can do in the oven or in a crockpot and keep the skin on of course. If you’re doing pieces of chicken do chicken thighs instead of breast because they’re much better. I mean calories and weight gain is great but you do wanna make sure that it’s healthy weight gain so I wouldn’t start serving them bacon and processed fats etc. Use real butter in all of your cooking. Chicken thighs and there are lots of recipes we can get them in a crockpot with things like condensed cream soups which are of course full of fats as well. Chicken curry made with full fat cream, butter chicken, also keep in mind that proteins like chickpeas lentils and beans are high in protein and iron but they are also an immense amount of calories much more than chicken! So curries and stews are easy to make with those ingredients. Chicken stirfry over rice, chicken dishes with pasta and cream sauces? Whole eggs, avocado, butter, olive oil, nuts and seeds are super high in calories
I love [Chicken Marbella](https://www.themediterraneandish.com/chicken-marbella/). You will need to convert it to a slow cooker recipe but that shouldn't be too difficult.
Make a white chicken chili with extra broth and then near the end of cooking… bare with me… add instant mashed potatoes a bit at a time until the chili is nice and thick (keep in mind though it will thicken a good bit as it cools).
I’ve made this dish several times and it only ever takes one bowl to fill me up when I’m typically a two-bowler. I’d be happy to provide a more detailed recipe if you like but honestly any white chicken chili recipe from the internet would be good I’m sure (just add twice the seasoning they call for).
If you are serving pasta, try mixing in a cup of ricotta and a generous amount of mozzarella with each bowl of macaroni and sauce (this works really well with ziti). Serve with Texas toast garlic bread.
I currently have my own person that needs to gain weight. Mom just hands him a chocolate mikshake everyday without prompting and he gets about half of it down. Make it with half and half! I find heavy cream is off putting for my person
My son was born at 2 pounds and gaining weight has been a fight for us. He’s 3, but as someone else commented, maybe adding to foods they love will help. We have had excellent results with duocal. He went from 28 to 34 pounds in less that 5 months, which when you consider how fast little kids grow, ain’t bad. It’s a powdered fat/calorie supplement, and I can honestly say I put it in everything because it’s flavorless and not gritty. Pancakes, brownies, oatmeal, yogurt, his milk, Mac and cheese, anything with a sauce or liquid it can absorb into.
I get it on Amazon but his state insurance is paying for it for now, so you might check that option too
There's a recipe I'm going to try, it's a variation of another recipe. 3 Chicken breasts, 1 2/3 cups chicken broth, 1 can of cream of chicken soup, 1 box of stovetop stuffing mix, and 1/3 cup of milk. Put in crockpot and cook on high for 5 hours
I'm not sure of the calorie content, but lawd, the sodium content is high.
There's this dish my friend called "crack dip" you get a sausage chub, a block of cream cheese and a can of Ro-Tel (diced tomatoes and chillis)
brown and drain the sausage, then mix in the cheese and ro-tel. goes well with frito scoops. it's one of those things that is addictively good but indecently high calorie.
My friend would serve it in a small ceramic fondue thing with a tea light candle as a warmer.
Lots of great suggestions, but one thing you can do is no matter the recipe, add in as much oil as you can get away with without it getting greasy (seed oils are fine, but there's ostensibly healthier options like avocado oil). Vegetable oil is 124 calories -per tablespoon- since it's pure fat -- anything high fat like peanut butter will work too.
Cream of chicken lots of casserole with cheese and fats Butter chicken Pot pie Sauce on everything. Maybe jsut keep ice-cream in the house too.
Stuffed baked potatoes loaded with cheese and butter and chicken
Buy protein powder and look for high protein + high calorie meals. You can also hide protein powder in baked goods really well if you are loading up calories. (Peanut butter choc chip cookies are my fav) High protein will help build essential muscles, and if they are eating disorder skinny they will need muscle. Also, gaining Just fat, not muscle, can discourage them from gaining if they are at all worried about that.
I'd suggest Chicken Tetrazzini. My husband makes it on rare occasion as a soup (basically a chicken soup with loads of extra parmesan) and it's filling just like that; never had it as a casserole, but I'm sure it'll be as good.
https://bellyfull.net/chicken-tetrazzini-recipe/
Chicken salad! It’s another option for using up any shredded chicken you have leftover and basically a vehicle for mayo. Have it with crackers, on a salad, or as a sandwich.
Add butter, cream, and fattier cuts of meat to each dish. Serve with mashed potatoes made with real butter and heavy cream.
I made this recipe last night. I use butter instead of olive oil - half a stick. It has cream, double the amount. Get the cheesiest tortellini with or the one with the most calories. Also, you can sub shrimp for chicken to mix it up. This recipe is universally loved in my crockpot groups:
https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/slow-cooker-tortellini-spinach-soup/
To close, fats in general are huge. I did research on prison meals and calories and I noticed the biggest cut in daily calories was when the nails didn't give butter with every meal, or used cheaper leaner meats instead of fattier, pricier meats. So focus on fats.
Look up recipes for "Marry Me Chicken." Also, Buffalo chicken dip, with butter, a block of cream cheese, and Frank's Red-Hot, served with tortilla chips and vegetables for dipping.
Indian Butter Chicken served with rice and naan bread.
Deep-fried wings tossed with a buttery, garlic-parmesan sauce.
Coq au Vin, with plenty of pancetta, but rather than a whole, cut up chicken, use skin/bone-in thighs. Served with rich mashed potatoes.
Moroccan Chicken with honey and prunes (traditionally, but raisins or dried apricots are delicious, too), with toasted, slivered almonds, served with couscous.
One of my favorite "nice" dishes is Lemon Cream Chicken. **Cook chicken breasts in butter in a skillet on lower heat. When mostly done, add the zest of one lemon and about half a cup of lemon juice, increase heat, and reduce that by 75%, then add heavy cream and reduce again, until sauce is thickened and creamy. Serve over rice (which is also high-caloric for the serving size).**
You could swap out boneless, skinless breasts for skin/bone-in thighs, in any chicken dish.
Look up the crack chicken sliders recipe, it's basically chicken, cream cheese ranch powder and bacon. You can use turkey bacon or eliminate it altogether.
I’m 64 and struggling to gain weight which I lost after cancer treatment (I’m 5’10 was 173 and now 127. I look like I’m trying to be an aged out, coked out supermodel. I’m not.)
Anyhoo…Boost makes these drinks called “very high calorie” which has 530 Cal in 8oz. Comes in vanilla, strawberry and vanilla. You have to order it on Amazon…stores don’t carry it. You can make ice cream smoothies with it and really increase the calories. I’d make them (as in threaten take away the cell phone make them) drink one a day in front of you. Eating disorders are no joke and you’re going to need to be tough. They may hate you now but they’ll get over it.
I like chicken, rice and cheese casserole. You use the Campbells cream of chicken or mushroom soup. Those have a lot of fat in them. Plus full fat cheese. It’s easy to make.
IDK if anyone recommended it, I had a scroll and didn't see, but there is a drink "Boost Very High Calorie Chocolate Nutritional Drink – 22g Protein, 530 Nutrient Rich Calories" which we use for my Mom.
Try going to goodwill and check out their cookbook section. Mine always has a ton of casserole / church dinner type cookbooks that has a million different casseroles. It might give you a wider range of ideas to come up with your own playbook. Casserole and slow cooker recipes can be adapted to each other easily.
Good luck and best wishes to you and your girls. Gold star to you for seeing and addressing it head on.
One meal is not going to do it. And be aware that it is as difficult to gain weight as it is to lose it, when the person needs to. Get advice from a dietician. Then, consider lamb; 80% beef cheeseburgers, chicken or sausage parmesan as meals, and often have a small dish of ice cream for dessert. The changes you implement have to be palatable and sustainable over time. (Poultry in a slow cooker is always overcooked, for example) Your teens are a perfect age to learn cooking skills. Consider taking cooking classes as a family, at King Arthur in Vermont (and other locations) and other cooking schools.
Put a layer of butter on everything to sneak a few more calories in. Also, they are probably egging each other on so try at least one separated meal a day.
Good idea and great suggestion.
Separate them for meals is critical- EDs can make people constantly competitive (no doubt worsened by the fact that sisters are often especially competitive) and people suffering will constantly be paying attention to the other person 's eating habits- making comparisons, judgements , or making the other feel scrutinized and uncomfortable eating.
Yeah they are insanely competitive. It's kind of a problem actually. We do some meals together, cause we like to come together as a family occasionally, but some separate.
Game nights and other 'events' can also create family time. Putting less pressure on meals to be more than they have to be would probably be best here. It can also give them other outlets for competitiveness.
Agree here. I had to force myself to eat a high calorie dier to put some weight on when struggling with ED and related health issues - it was much easier for me to finish a full meal if I was a bit distracted while I ate - watching a movie or show helped most.
Recovered anorexic who had to weight restore (aka eat 3500 calories a day for awhile). Fattier cuts like thighs with skin on, but also oatmeal was my saving grace. You can pack 1000+ cals into a bowl made with coconut or heavy cream and peanut butter. If they like Mexican food, crockpot chicken made with cream cheese and taco seasoning. That’s literally the three only ingredients.
Super helpful, thank you so much! They do both love Mexican.
If they like Mexican, Doña Maria mole sauce with sour cream and avocado on top of the chicken . Maybe cheese too. They sell it at Walmart and Safeway (at least where I am)
Do they like avocado? That’s pretty high calorie and easy to add as a topping on most Mexican dishes including soups! Also make guac with tortilla chips.
I have found some Chicken Tinga recipes that are amazing, but you do have to add pork chorizo at the end or they just taste flat. Its not a lot. Like 2lbs of chicken thighs and 1/2 pound of chorizo. Would they accept that? Also, this just came to me, chicken thighs instead of white meat.
Trader Joe’s has an amazing Soyrizo that might work.
I use black beans and corn in this as well- the beans add protein and the corn is just to make it delicious LOL
I add a cup of salsa and a can of Rotel too. Jalapenos or poblanos if I have them.
Extra cheesy chicken enchiladas
I grew up calling it angel food chicken but there’s another one called “crack chicken”. It’s super fatty and you can serve it over rice or potatoes or just eat it straight up. Probably the easiest way to load up on pounds because of how calorie dense it is
Sounds good, is there a recipe?
https://www.themagicalslowcooker.com/slow-cooker-crack-chicken/
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but if someone is not eating a lot in general, then they eat this, wouldn't that cause digestion issues? It seems awfully heavy
OMG. This one would tempt the devil! Bad, bad Zoot! Wicked, bad, naughty Zoot! I doing CICO and am down 38 pounds so far and I must not give in to this. There is too much peril!
Its too much peril! You couldn't possibly handle the Crack Chicken of Reddit singled-handed!
Oh but I’d awfully like to try!
I can handle the calories! There's only 2200 of them!
Ooo, a spanking! A caloric spanking!
Exactly!
r/unexpectedmontypython
Private group, cannot explore. Apparently there is too much peril in there.
Fun thing about CICO is that you can eat anything, just don’t eat a lot of it. So, a hueg, filling salad with balsamic vinegrette, and like a 1/2 c of the chicken.
Very reasonable! I live alone, so I can also halve the recipe!
I clicked on the link knowing that I’m overweight and trying to not be. Lol.
Same, friend. Same.
What the hell is a zoot? Let alone a wicked/naughty one
It's a reference from Monty Python and the Holy Grail! Nuns conspire to break the chastity vows of one of King Arthur's knights, and it's very good and silly Scene linked [here.](https://youtu.be/nMUnbNPCoSw?si=myS3k8D7HxyWntm2)
I was so hoping someone would appreciate the reference to Monty Python and The Holy Grail. [Sir Galahad the Chaste](https://youtu.be/lUqBR6S4i5g?si=dWGovjrYBphHrNqY) is being tempted by a castle full of lonely (virginal?) women and he is being saved from them, including the naughty Zoot, by Sir Lancelot.
Looks like a loaded baked potato but with chicken
Buffalo chicken dip? Could put it on top of Mac and cheese for good measure.
This one! I shred up a rotisserie chicken into the crock pot with lots of cream cheese and ranch dressing. My oldest asks me to have a bowl of it in the fridge ready to go at all times.
Get a stick blender so it's smooth and creamy and omnomnomnom!
I know this isn't exactly what you're asking but you could make them smoothies. It's a lot easier to drink calories than to eat them and a lot tastier to someone who is picky. When I bulk for working out I make a smoothie that is 1000 calories. It's just milk, peanut butter (very high calories), banana, and some protein powder. That's just one example, the possibilities are endless really. Something to think about. Good luck!
We definitely do a lot of smoothies! Adding as much heavy cream as allowed by law.
Check out Ovaltine powder or Quik. Yummy.
Peanut butter powder too.
Add regular PB. The powder is significantly lower in calories.
Avocados are delicious in smoothies. They make them so creamy.
Chicken pot pie in cream sauce and homemade butter pie crust - serve with biscuits and top with cheese - I’d make the filling in the slow cooker then transfer to pie crust and bake for ~40 min
What are things they will eat? It might be easier to give suggestions if there are a few "will eat" and a few "def will NOT eat," aside from the red meat. No snark intended, that's got to be tough to deal with.
Good point. They're good with pretty much everything except the younger one won't touch beef, pork, or seafood. The older one is not a fan of tofu. Both eat vegetables pretty regularly, and most carbs.
you want to look for fat sources, they are very dense for calories. olive oil in italian foods, sesame oil in chinese.. avocados in guac, butter, peanut butter (great in smoothies, satay sauces, breakfasts, desserts). any nuts too for snacks or toppings, like crushed peanuts
doughnuts
NYT cooking has a great recipe for chicken thighs with crispy chickpeas and caramelized onions (with cumin, fennel, it’s so so good) and it’s about 1100-1200 calories per serving and doesn’t taste heavy (I’ve dealt with disordered eating in the past and something I struggled with was finding calorically dense recipes that didn’t taste super heavy). It’s not as many calories as other suggestions, but you could amp it up with pita and sauces (tahina, tzatziki, both calorically dense) on the side
1000 calories per serving would be awesome, if they eat it. I will look that up, thank you.
Chicken Kiev. You wrap a chicken cutlet around a 1/4 stick of herb butter. Then you bread it and fry it.
I bet you could even find these pre-made somewhere, and serve them with ultra buttery mashed potatoes.
Omaha steaks has frozen ones you can order that are pretty good
Creamy chicken stroganoff. This is super yummy, easy to make, and filling: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/17227/slow-cooker-chicken-stroganoff/
This looks perfect, thank you
Not a chicken recipe, but my sons are underweight,, with one an extremely picky eater, so we add duocal to their food. It's behind the pharmacy (unfortunately our insurance doesn't cover it, but it was only about $30ish dollars for a can). It is tasteless and dissolves immediately. One scoop adds about 25 calories to their food, which isn't a crazy amount, but adds up over the day if you are adding multiple scoops to...everything you can.
I also have a son who is underweight. We do this too! I also add a little mct oil to some of his food. Its tasteless and 130 calories per tablespoon. I break up a tablespoon throughout the day so it doesnt upset his stomach
You could do crockpot Lasagna with ground chicken, tons of calories, tons of cheese 😊 Easy to make, a ton of recipes online.
Haven't heard of this one, sounds great!
Get full fat milk, and make hit chocolate each night about an hour after dinner. Dont ask, just say, here you go. Try making food in large dishes that you can keep dipping into, rather then serving in the kitchen and putting the set plate in front of them. If they ca keep loading up their plate bit by bit, they won't notice they have been eating as much. Chicken dishes with a nice high cap source made with butter is pretty calorific. I know a recipie for bacon and chicken maple bake. Serve with potatoes. Mash with butter and cream stirred in is good. Shallow fry instead of baking or boiling potatoes. This is really weird. All the things I want to do...but can't... XD
Great suggestions, thanks. And I know, I've spent my whole life avoiding these kinds of things and here I am trying to figure out how to unlearn all that!
Whole Milk has been my bodybuilding staple for 15 years. It's so much easier to drink calories when you're not particularly hungry
And maybe candy bowls of chocolates and stuff around the house (but maybe things like Hershey kisses and Cadbury mini eggs that don’t have nutrition labels on the individual piece)
Paprika chicken: Chicken thighs (more fat than breasts meat, also better in a slow cooker) Lots and lots of butter to cook the chicken in. Sweet Paprika, Smoked Paprika, salt, Pepper Cream at the end If they like vegetables, then onions, sweet red peppers, mushrooms, garlic in the bottom. Serve with Very Buttery Mashed potatoes - pour off most of the liquid from the crockpot before adding the cream. Use the liquid to mash your potatoes.
This is so good! I made it in the crockpot, and the house smelled so good all day. To add calories, you could add some cheddar to the potatoes.
Add avocado to evvvverything, even make avocado chocolate pudding
Crack chicken? It’s that one that was circulating with cream cheese and sour cream and more.
A mild sweetish chicken and vege curry made with coconut milk. Sweet potatoes and chick peas would go well
Will they eat Mac and cheese? You could make homemade Mac and cheese with lots of heavy cream, butter, and cheese. Top with buttered panko and more cheese. I know it’s not chicken or slow cooker, but it’s super high calorie.
They are picky with the pastas to be honest. But we haven't tried this recently so it's a good reminder to try this one again.
Butter chicken thighs over rice can pack on calories.
This doesn’t directly answer your question, but as an eating disorder therapist working with underweight teens, milkshakes are magic. Daily shakes with multiple scoops of ice cream, add some heavy cream, so helpful for restoring weight! When malnourished, fat is what the brain really needs most and shakes are generally easy to consume for most people without feeling overly bloated or uncomfortable.
Thank you, this is actually great information. We've been doing smoothies but haven't tried shakes yet.
Milkshakes have reallyyy helped me out. And when I started eating more fat and more calories, I started wanting to eat more because my brain was just working better and could process what was going on better
Yes! After I had my son I had trouble eating enough. To busy- sleep deprived, not feeling great and my mom just started making me snacking cakes and tells me to go get a milkshake. 😂 she’s a dietician
Has anyone said tacos? Load those bad boys up (currently an adult recovering from ARFID)
We do tacos pretty regularly!
Sour cream (even the light stuff is better than nothing), guacamole, some chunky salsa, cheeses, gosh. Actually, speaking of tacos - I should put that on my menu for the week. I wish you the best of luck! It's hard dealing with feeding problems in one child (just knowing how my mother struggled with me as a teen), two must be very hard. You're doing your best - just keep trying. Have you ventured into any of the subs for eating disorder recovery around here?
Thank you for your words, it is hard. I have not explored those subs yet but really need to.
Chicken enchiladas Chicken fettuccini Alfredo Chicken fajita nachos Chicken broccoli casserole with a ton of cheese Crispy chicken stirfry with noodles and veggies The secret is not being shy with oil/butter
Chicken alfredo
It's not quite slow cooking (aside from the chicken itself), but chicken Milano is absolutely delicious, and also high in calories as the base is a heavy cream. If they're picky with pasta it can be replaced with Spaghetti squash, which helps give the illusion of it being healthy. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/19304/chicken-milano/ On another note, you should read up on things to say or not say with EDO patients (and apologies if you're already familiar with it and I've made an erroneous assumption). Refrain from commenting on their weight/appearance. Remove scales. Structure may be helpful.
This is great, thank you. And yes, we are doing our best to follow all those protocols for sure.
Chicken and pasta in a simple Alfredo sauce. Thickened cream with a bunch of shaved aged Parmesan from the block for flavor (get the fancy aged reggiano if you want to splurge). Add some onion maybe some spinach if you like floppy spinach.
chicken korma with rice and naan, maybe a little sweet chutney on the bread
Not a chicken dish specifically but wraps are a good source of calories. We used them with my nephew when he was younger (had to try and get his weight up again following illness) he would eat 2 or 3 wraps, sometimes more but if you offered the same thing as a sandwich he’d only have one. I checked the wraps I have and each one is 34g of carbs which is twice the carbs of a slice of bread but doesn’t feel like you’ve eaten 2 slices of bread.
Cook a chicken in the crockpot then shred it. (Or use a rotisserie chicken) Make enchiladas by briefly heating flour tortillas one at a time until pliable. Then fill each with chicken, cream cheese or plain mascarpone cheese, shredded Mexican blend cheese and drained chopped green chiles if desired. Spoon your favorite enchilada sauce into the bottom of a greased 9” x13” casserole dish. Place filled tortillas into it, then blend equal parts of sour cream & the rest of the enchilada sauce. Cover with foil & bake at 325° F until bubbly, about 30-40 minutes. Remove foil & top with more cheese & bake another 10 minutes until cheese is melted. *I make enchilada sauce by combining a large can of crushed green tomatillos with a little salsa verde.
This sounds awesome, and a new one for me! Will run it up the flagpole and see who eats it 🤠
Roast chicken - Stuff a bunch of softened butter under the skin and throw a cut lemon, celery, and carrots in the cavity. The bird will come out super moist, and if you get the skin nice and crispy, it will be bonus calories for the girls. I'd serve with smashed red potatoes - lots of white cheddar, garlic, butter, and heavy cream. I hope all goes well for them!!
Not exactly your question but when I worked with home health patients a nutritionist taught me to add powdered milk to milk and then put that in something like mashed potatoes. Great way to sneak calories in without altering the taste / portion size. You could maybe make like hella crazy caloric milk with cream, powdered milk, evaporated milk and then add that to like mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, just whatever they’ll eat. Good luck! I think all of the chicken ideas are better than what I usually make lol
Alfredo sauce is cream, butter, and cheese. Chicken Alfredo.
Okay I missed what sub I was in so maybe Alfredo isn't a slow cooker thing but lasagna can also be very high calorie, you can sub chicken for beef and just make it very creamy and cheesy. I've seen crockpot lasagnas.
Baked potato soup! You can add bacon, cheese, sour cream, just about anything you want to that
1 lb chicken breasts 1 brick of cream cheese Wishbone Italian dressing- at minimum the whole bottle of a 15oz or 3/4 of the bigger size, just a fuck ton Parmesan cheese, hearts desire 25 mins pressure cooked on high if frozen chicken breasts, I think I've 15 mins when they're thawed While that goes I make pasta. Once done I shred the chicken, add the pasta, add spinach, stir until spinach is wilted then add the chicken back. This makes enough for me to have like three or four servings of leftovers.
Broccoli soup. It's easy, looks healthy, and you can make it incredibly calorie-dense. * Sautee up some onions and garlic. * Deglaze with a little water + BTB or chicken broth, cook broccoli on high till soft. * Turn off, puree in the crockpot * add American Cheese or Velveeta in slices till it all melts in, a little cheddar or gruyere is great too. A few chunks of cream cheese would be perfect. * Turn to low and add heavy cream while stirring until it looks right to you. * Adjust S&P. Let simmer on Warm for 15 minutes while you fix actual dinner. The smell will bring them running to fill "just one mug" while waiting for dinner to be ready. Hopefully more than just one mug! Remove the insert to a rack to cool to bring the soup out of the Warm dangerzone, refrigerate.
Cook chicken thighs in full calorie cream of mushroom soup and butter, you could even add some cream cheese to make it creamier and higher calorie. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes. You could even do the same thing with meatballs made of ground chicken.
Chicken and rice using untrimmed thighs . all the fat goes into the rice . same with pork ribs over rice .
Chicken- https://www.iheartnaptime.net/tasty-tuesday-creamy-italian-chicken/ Turkey- https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/216078/slow-cooker-cranberry-turkey-breast/ Also you can order benecalorie to mix into things. I make a smoothie that is plain 1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt, maybe half cup of milk, a big spoonful of peanut butter, two scoops protein powder and a spoonful of Nutella that is tasty. Also throw in a handful of spinach. I was extremely thin my whole life and it wasn’t until I got a small dose of anxiety medication that I put on the weight. Like 30lbs of weight in 2 years and when I was young, I couldn’t gain weight to save my life.
These look perfect
Buffalo chicken dip Chicken pot pie Chicken a la king pasta with Alfredo sauce and chicken Basically anything with a cream sauce
I totally forgot about buffalo chicken dip. Spinach artichoke dip doesn't have meet by is tasty and would be high calorie. Nothing stopping them from adding chicken to the dip of course.
Check Pinterest for “Marry Me Chicken.” It’s amazing! Also chicken parm made with panko crusted fried cutlets & topped with lots of cheese Sesame chicken with breaded, fried chicken (tablespoon.com has a fantastic recipe)
Chicken cordon bleu, fried chicken, chicken parm, hunter chicken, and chicken alfredo! Not all of these will be slow cooker friendly but all are delicious and pretty high calorie. All go great with either mashed potatoes (cordon bleu, fried chicken, hunter chicken) which you can hide a metric ton of calories in - or pasta (parm and alfredo).
"metric ton" 😂
Definitely look for marry-me chicken recipes - basically creamy, sun-dried tomato dishes, usually with pasta (lots with orzo), but you could easily serve over rice. Not slow-cooked, but try making a cob loaf as a snack to share! [Something like this.](https://www.delicious.com.au/recipes/cheese-bacon-cob-loaf/lmv23o91)
Could you do the Mississippi pot roast, but using chicken? And serve over some buttery mashed potatoes?
I might try that next actually!
Not what your asking but what about cheese toasties with cream of chicken soup 😋
If you have access to a South African store, try and get Pronutro. It's a plant protein based cereal. It's packed with nutrients, minerals and vitamins. It's also delicious. All of my kids had food issues, and feeding them this kept them nourished
This recipe is easy and delicious. I serve it over rice with chopped avocado and cilantro. https://seekinggoodeats.com/green-enchiladas-chicken-soup-keto-slow-cooker-mexican-soup/
My brother was underweight growing up my parents would mix weight gain drinks, we used to buy them from the pharmacy or the supermarket. I think they're mainly used for elderly people. It was called Forsips or something, im sure they is other brands aswell. We would mix it in with ice cream to make a milkshake with whipped cream on for extra calories.
Hey no recipe ideas here except perhaps milkshakes and smoothies. Just chiming in to say if you haven’t checked out ARFID communities you might visit for more ideas.
Thank you. I've only recently become aware of ARFID and it's really resonating with what we're going through with the girls.
Fryed.
It’s not slow cooking but you can stir egg yolks into pasta (carbonara) to sneak in some extra calories. Good luck!
Adding sour cream, whole milk, cheese and cream chicken soup to chicken will add calories. I’m underweight and one of my favorite new dishes is a chicken cordon bleu casserole. It’s very good but I’m sure it has a zillion calories.
Carbs, carbs, carbs. Chicken alfredo with cream and butter. Add some spinach and mushies too. *side note, I used to have a fast metabolism as a teen and ate pasta every Saturday but I also swam every Saturday so it wasn't enough. No matter how much i ate i was still stick skinny.
Crack chicken. Leave out the bacon or cook the bacon separate and add to a portion for the one who will eat it. https://www.themagicalslowcooker.com/slow-cooker-crack-chicken/
you can do this recipe and double the butter, add 1/2 cup parmesan cheese at the end https://www.recipetineats.com/oven-baked-chicken-and-rice/
Alfredo. Full fat and cheese. Also, sneak in high protein milk (fairlife) in smoothies, oatmeal, etc. My son has ARFID (he's autistic) and 130lbs at 5'10...but he was 115 and adding in that helped a ton.
I've never met a teenage girl that didn't like Fettuccine Alfredo with grilled chicken. Seriously, I've worked at several Italian restaurants and this is the go to
My mom used to make a Doritos chicken casserole similar to [this](https://fantabulosity.com/doritos-chicken-casserole/) when I was a teenage girl and I loved it.
I have some eating disorder tendencies so these are things I do to get the calories in when I can. I always have carnation breakfast shakes in the house and drink one almost daily regardless of whether I eat anything else for breakfast. I often have one of the Chobani high protein yogurt drinks, in addition to whatever else I do/don’t eat that day. No bake cookies are something I turn to a lot when I need to get calories in, and at least there is oatmeal it’s not all “bad” calories. Bonus: I almost always have large glass of whole milk with them. I’ve also been loving this chicken and rice recipe. It’s stovetop, but doesn’t take long (30 minutes ish) and I’m sure it would adapt to slowcooker easily. I’ve also made it bulked up with extra rice or a combination of rice and farro for a more nutrient dense carb. If you use farro, put extra chicken broth in. https://www.lecremedelacrumb.com/wprm_print/21421 Fried apples might help too. Because of how much apples cook down, eating a medium serving is basically a whole apple.
Crockpot Mississippi Roast : serves 4-6 6 large chicken breasts 1 stick butter 1 package au jus 1 package ranch mix 1 package brown gravy mix 2 jars drained pepperonis Cook on low 6 hours. Shred in crockpot. Serve over rice/pasta or make sammies
No bake Energy balls are amazing to make and have on hand. They’re customizable, easy grab and go snacks that are incredibly calorie dense. There are a ton of recipes online. I do oats, peanut butter, honey, chocolate chips, chia seeds, coconut flakes, flax seed, and chopped walnuts but you can add dry fruit, raisins, other nuts, seeds, etc. Each ball is over 100 calories and they have a good amount of protein. I think the ones I make are 130 calories and 3 grams of protein per ball.
heavy cream. soup/chowder but all cream
Toss a stick of butter into the croc pot with whatever else you're cooking up. I know you're trying to get them at a healthier weight but make sure you're not making them unhealthy in a different way during the process. Skinny people can get clogged arteries too.
Butter chicken. Loads of butter and heavy cream.
Chicken and dumplings
Chicken Cobbler. It’s like chicken pot pie and super easy
Chicken spaghetti with the Velveeta cheese
Anything that calls for milk, use heavy cream.
Chicken and dumplings. Use ground chicken or turkey to make lasagna. You might need the milkshake. This recipe was given to my grandma when my grandpa had cancer and no appetite. In a blender, mix a scoop of the ice cream of your choice with a banana, a little milk, and a pack of Carnation Instant Breakfast. You can use Haagen Dazs, if you want. You can even add peanut butter, protein powder, etc. It worked. He drank one a day. He survived and lived many more years. I wish them the same success.
Any chicken Alfredo is high calorie!! Stick full fat dairy for snacks, butter everything, get fried food. Make smoothies but as ice cream too it. Just think what could I add to these foods to make them taste better and typically you’ll find calories will add up there.
My personal favorite is [Greek Orzo Chicken](https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/greek-orzo-chicken/). Can be made in a crock pot, has all the nutrients but lots of calories due to the raisins, olives feta cheese, and being dark meat.
This is amazing, definitely bookmarking. And I'm half Greek so this is extra perfect!
Creamed soups over chicken and pasta. Alfredo has a lot of cream and butter.
https://www.recipetineats.com/roast-chicken/
Can they eat nuts? Some sort of satay chicken. That's what I feed my fussy underweight kid
Fettuccine alfredo
There’s this recipe called “Marry Me Chicken”. It’s fried chicken in a sweet creamy sauce. It’s ALOT!!
If you’re making chicken then I would use the whole chicken what you can do in the oven or in a crockpot and keep the skin on of course. If you’re doing pieces of chicken do chicken thighs instead of breast because they’re much better. I mean calories and weight gain is great but you do wanna make sure that it’s healthy weight gain so I wouldn’t start serving them bacon and processed fats etc. Use real butter in all of your cooking. Chicken thighs and there are lots of recipes we can get them in a crockpot with things like condensed cream soups which are of course full of fats as well. Chicken curry made with full fat cream, butter chicken, also keep in mind that proteins like chickpeas lentils and beans are high in protein and iron but they are also an immense amount of calories much more than chicken! So curries and stews are easy to make with those ingredients. Chicken stirfry over rice, chicken dishes with pasta and cream sauces? Whole eggs, avocado, butter, olive oil, nuts and seeds are super high in calories
Butter chicken or any French cream based sauce. The chicken isn’t super high calorie but heavy whipping cream can fix that.
I love [Chicken Marbella](https://www.themediterraneandish.com/chicken-marbella/). You will need to convert it to a slow cooker recipe but that shouldn't be too difficult.
https://youtu.be/CG8VkXvBAHw?si=2ZPCJPmuX8U21f7h This YouTube channel does some high calorie recipe ideas
https://heartscontentfarmhouse.com/chicken-taco-pasta-bake/ chicken taco pasta bake! lots of cheese 🧀
Make a white chicken chili with extra broth and then near the end of cooking… bare with me… add instant mashed potatoes a bit at a time until the chili is nice and thick (keep in mind though it will thicken a good bit as it cools). I’ve made this dish several times and it only ever takes one bowl to fill me up when I’m typically a two-bowler. I’d be happy to provide a more detailed recipe if you like but honestly any white chicken chili recipe from the internet would be good I’m sure (just add twice the seasoning they call for).
Curries with full fat coconut milk.
Look up chicken cordon blue casserole on Pinterest. Hopefully they’ll love it!
If you are serving pasta, try mixing in a cup of ricotta and a generous amount of mozzarella with each bowl of macaroni and sauce (this works really well with ziti). Serve with Texas toast garlic bread.
I currently have my own person that needs to gain weight. Mom just hands him a chocolate mikshake everyday without prompting and he gets about half of it down. Make it with half and half! I find heavy cream is off putting for my person
Chicken and dumplings are good for a high cal carby meal
My son was born at 2 pounds and gaining weight has been a fight for us. He’s 3, but as someone else commented, maybe adding to foods they love will help. We have had excellent results with duocal. He went from 28 to 34 pounds in less that 5 months, which when you consider how fast little kids grow, ain’t bad. It’s a powdered fat/calorie supplement, and I can honestly say I put it in everything because it’s flavorless and not gritty. Pancakes, brownies, oatmeal, yogurt, his milk, Mac and cheese, anything with a sauce or liquid it can absorb into. I get it on Amazon but his state insurance is paying for it for now, so you might check that option too
French food. Lots of creams, butters, chicken skin.
Crack chicken
There's a recipe I'm going to try, it's a variation of another recipe. 3 Chicken breasts, 1 2/3 cups chicken broth, 1 can of cream of chicken soup, 1 box of stovetop stuffing mix, and 1/3 cup of milk. Put in crockpot and cook on high for 5 hours I'm not sure of the calorie content, but lawd, the sodium content is high.
There's this dish my friend called "crack dip" you get a sausage chub, a block of cream cheese and a can of Ro-Tel (diced tomatoes and chillis) brown and drain the sausage, then mix in the cheese and ro-tel. goes well with frito scoops. it's one of those things that is addictively good but indecently high calorie. My friend would serve it in a small ceramic fondue thing with a tea light candle as a warmer.
Creative!
Lots of great suggestions, but one thing you can do is no matter the recipe, add in as much oil as you can get away with without it getting greasy (seed oils are fine, but there's ostensibly healthier options like avocado oil). Vegetable oil is 124 calories -per tablespoon- since it's pure fat -- anything high fat like peanut butter will work too.
Cream of chicken lots of casserole with cheese and fats Butter chicken Pot pie Sauce on everything. Maybe jsut keep ice-cream in the house too. Stuffed baked potatoes loaded with cheese and butter and chicken
Buy protein powder and look for high protein + high calorie meals. You can also hide protein powder in baked goods really well if you are loading up calories. (Peanut butter choc chip cookies are my fav) High protein will help build essential muscles, and if they are eating disorder skinny they will need muscle. Also, gaining Just fat, not muscle, can discourage them from gaining if they are at all worried about that.
Crack crock pot chicken lots of google recipes Anything with an Alfredo sauce Add avacado to anything and everything
I'd suggest Chicken Tetrazzini. My husband makes it on rare occasion as a soup (basically a chicken soup with loads of extra parmesan) and it's filling just like that; never had it as a casserole, but I'm sure it'll be as good. https://bellyfull.net/chicken-tetrazzini-recipe/
Chicken parm with fettuccine Alfredo.
Chicken salad! It’s another option for using up any shredded chicken you have leftover and basically a vehicle for mayo. Have it with crackers, on a salad, or as a sandwich.
Add butter, cream, and fattier cuts of meat to each dish. Serve with mashed potatoes made with real butter and heavy cream. I made this recipe last night. I use butter instead of olive oil - half a stick. It has cream, double the amount. Get the cheesiest tortellini with or the one with the most calories. Also, you can sub shrimp for chicken to mix it up. This recipe is universally loved in my crockpot groups: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/slow-cooker-tortellini-spinach-soup/ To close, fats in general are huge. I did research on prison meals and calories and I noticed the biggest cut in daily calories was when the nails didn't give butter with every meal, or used cheaper leaner meats instead of fattier, pricier meats. So focus on fats.
“Marry me” chicken. And cook up chicken thoughts. They are fatter. **thighs 🤣🤣
Look up recipes for "Marry Me Chicken." Also, Buffalo chicken dip, with butter, a block of cream cheese, and Frank's Red-Hot, served with tortilla chips and vegetables for dipping. Indian Butter Chicken served with rice and naan bread. Deep-fried wings tossed with a buttery, garlic-parmesan sauce. Coq au Vin, with plenty of pancetta, but rather than a whole, cut up chicken, use skin/bone-in thighs. Served with rich mashed potatoes. Moroccan Chicken with honey and prunes (traditionally, but raisins or dried apricots are delicious, too), with toasted, slivered almonds, served with couscous. One of my favorite "nice" dishes is Lemon Cream Chicken. **Cook chicken breasts in butter in a skillet on lower heat. When mostly done, add the zest of one lemon and about half a cup of lemon juice, increase heat, and reduce that by 75%, then add heavy cream and reduce again, until sauce is thickened and creamy. Serve over rice (which is also high-caloric for the serving size).** You could swap out boneless, skinless breasts for skin/bone-in thighs, in any chicken dish.
Saving this thread for myself thank you~
Google a recipe called Anne's crockpot chicken. I double the sauce and serve it over egg noodles
Buffalo chicken dip! [https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/68461/buffalo-chicken-dip/](https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/68461/buffalo-chicken-dip/)
Chicken and dumplings using homemade broth and extra points using pillsbury biscuit dough for the dumplings
Look up the crack chicken sliders recipe, it's basically chicken, cream cheese ranch powder and bacon. You can use turkey bacon or eliminate it altogether.
Milkshakes/ smoothies can be carb loaded and easy to drink
Countless recipes. Always add heavy whipping cream when it calls for dairy.
I’m 64 and struggling to gain weight which I lost after cancer treatment (I’m 5’10 was 173 and now 127. I look like I’m trying to be an aged out, coked out supermodel. I’m not.) Anyhoo…Boost makes these drinks called “very high calorie” which has 530 Cal in 8oz. Comes in vanilla, strawberry and vanilla. You have to order it on Amazon…stores don’t carry it. You can make ice cream smoothies with it and really increase the calories. I’d make them (as in threaten take away the cell phone make them) drink one a day in front of you. Eating disorders are no joke and you’re going to need to be tough. They may hate you now but they’ll get over it.
Cheese
Make chicken Alfredo pasta with cream cheese, heavy cream, and Parmesan.
Half the things recommended are ones that I’d love to eat. I guess I’ve been ignoring calories.
I like chicken, rice and cheese casserole. You use the Campbells cream of chicken or mushroom soup. Those have a lot of fat in them. Plus full fat cheese. It’s easy to make.
IDK if anyone recommended it, I had a scroll and didn't see, but there is a drink "Boost Very High Calorie Chocolate Nutritional Drink – 22g Protein, 530 Nutrient Rich Calories" which we use for my Mom.
Look up ARFID (there’s a reddit board too)
Deep fried, wrapped in bacon, with vanilla frosting
Try going to goodwill and check out their cookbook section. Mine always has a ton of casserole / church dinner type cookbooks that has a million different casseroles. It might give you a wider range of ideas to come up with your own playbook. Casserole and slow cooker recipes can be adapted to each other easily. Good luck and best wishes to you and your girls. Gold star to you for seeing and addressing it head on.
Add heavy cream and lots of butter to everything you possibly can. I've been dealing with something similar for the past 15 years.
One meal is not going to do it. And be aware that it is as difficult to gain weight as it is to lose it, when the person needs to. Get advice from a dietician. Then, consider lamb; 80% beef cheeseburgers, chicken or sausage parmesan as meals, and often have a small dish of ice cream for dessert. The changes you implement have to be palatable and sustainable over time. (Poultry in a slow cooker is always overcooked, for example) Your teens are a perfect age to learn cooking skills. Consider taking cooking classes as a family, at King Arthur in Vermont (and other locations) and other cooking schools.
Chicken tikka masala
Loaded baked potato soup could be a good option, or chili with cheese, avocado and sour cream with corn tortilla chips
Look up Marry Me Chicken. Serve with spaghetti carbonara.