i av tried shakes and bars and they have not worked 4 me

very possible. in college i was about 190 when i got back into lifting (had to really cut it back for a while due to a knee and shoulder injury) and i hit 210 in a few weeks, 230 and 7% bodyfat (yeah, that's too low. doc told me to get it up to 12) in a few months. that's only working out 3 to 5 hours per week. my secret...my caloric intake was high, well over 7000/day and most of that was from red meat so i had tons of iron, creatine and protein. at my best i was doing a 5-rep max of 325 and 1-rep max of 375. still taking it easy on that shoulder. my roommate started the same time i did and at the same weight and he never got his 1-rep max past 250. genetics mainly i think.

if you gained 35lbs and are only 175 it sounds like you just just have a small build and will never get very large.