LauraOC

April 20, 2017 - As per the updated "SNEAKY SUGARS" download, monk fruit extract and anything that it appears in is not compliant.
https://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-sugar.pdf  

If you were looking for an official ruling from the Whole30 powers that be, on July 22, 2014 they posted this on FB:
 
We hear you all talking about gnocchi. Even though potatoes are now on the menu, this is still pasta and still falls into the #SWYPO category. Use that incredible sauce on some zoodles or a gorgeous piece of meat instead.
 
 

Don't believe a word you see on Pinterest... it's worse than Facebook for people using tags to get clicks!

@Venn - there are no bread substitutes like that which are compliant. Cornstarch or not, there is no recreating bread/muffins/pancakes/cookies/pasta/tortillas with compliant ingredients. Who said it was compliant?
The rest of your dinner sounds nice.

Perfect   Also, I just re-read the ingredients and the banana powder is to make the item taste more banana-y I assume... that's a fun trick by food manufacturers to make food supernaturally tastey so then regular banana isn't going to taste as banana-y and consumers will continue to buy this product for that extra banana-y flavor.  I'd steer clear
 

I have made it several times since I first posted this. I backed it down to 3 TBS, then just added more to taste. It's very good, but again, don't expect Heinz. I also added some onion powder. Good luck! 

What about my suggestions to eat as much salt as you can on the program and then supplement with the pills?  Like @berry straw said, there are lots of program approved high sodium foods... olives in brine, fish sauce, canned fish etc... what about trying that suggestion?  
I just googled 'foods high in sodium' and got this list (which I've edited to remove non compliant suggestions from).  
If what you were really looking for was for someone to say go ahead with the popcorn, no one is going to say that... that's a choice you'll have to make yourself but corn in general is pretty inflammatory, causes digestive upset in people including bloat and loose stools and will completely skew your results if you eat it every day of the program.  Especially because there are options that don't involve popcorn such as heavily salting foods that taste good with lots of salt, finding prepackaged high sodium foods and supplementing with fewer salt pills instead of considering it's either popcorn or $50 of salt pills.
High-Sodium Foods: Smoked, cured, salted or canned meat, fish or poultry including bacon, cold cuts, ham, frankfurters, sausage, sardines, caviar and anchovies. Salted nuts

The thread starts with someone asking if they can use it to make chicken, which was agreed to... it was someone suggesting they make french fries that we said no to... If you're using it as an alternate way of cooking that does not use more oil than pan frying or roasting and you're not using it to prop up a french fry affliction or similar then go ahead.

I do that... I've fessed up to it here somewhere... I either take a pic of half my plate or I put two eggs down, take a pic and then plate the rest so as to remain 'socially acceptable'.  It's idiotic at best and damaging for others at worst...

It's also worth mentioning that people will plate up what looks like an "insta-worthy" meal, snap a picture and then load up the REST of the food. Social media is, at best, an illusion and at worst, a manipulation.

@JanellaR
No, that's not correct. While any produce that has seeds is a fruit, the things we generally consider veggies such as cukes, bell peppers, squashes and tomatoes etc are considered veggies on the program. The actual fruits that are meant to be limited to 1-2 fist sized servings per day (if at all) are the sweet fruits that are high in natural sugars.

THANK YOU!!

Actually yes. 
Melissa's reply: Carrageenan is a specific processed additive from algae, whereas this stuff appears to be totally different. Plus even if it was similar, we're not making a specific ruling against all algae as that would rule out vegan omega-3 supplementation. So tell her it's fine.

As far as 'snacks' go, dried fruit and nuts are not great.  We encourage you to make your meals large enough and mirrored to the template in order to get 4-5 hours between meals.  Should you need to eat between meals when you're figuring out your meal size, or if you have to go longer than 5 hours, we recommend a mini meal which would be protein and fat and ideally veggies - basically a template meal but in a smaller portion.

Hey guys! Just chiming in here, since it's my post and my huge OOPS! Someone help me put together that post and I didn't catch those three recipes, so I apologize for the confusion. I know all too well that smoothie bowls and n'oatmeal shouldn't be on there! Cheers everyone!

The way it works in my head for a recipe like BBQ sauce or ketchup is like this:
1-2 dates is just enough to mellow the harshness of the vinegar and/or temper a spice like cayenne so the sauce is tasty but not dominated by one flavor component (like the vinegar)
1/3 cup dates or more is straight up making something sweet
 

Thank you so much for this perspective. I was coming up with blanks every time I tried to reason the date comment. I appreciate your thoughtful response!

From the way in interpret the whole paragraph about not inthe spirit of the Whole30 on the recipe page, is that they have already sweetened it with apple cider (not the vinegar) and that they COULD have put a bunch of dates in it to make it more Heinz-ish but that is not in the spirit of the Whole30... I can't comment on why it turned out like runny tomato colored vinegar, the ratios look okay to me but I would say half the vinegar and see how you like it and then change it up to taste.
As far as sauces not being in the spirit of the Whole30, its often a gray area around trying to recreate things (SWYPO) or sweetening things so they taste the same as a storebought item... Dates are specifically called out as allowed in the making of sauces such as BBQ sauce or ketchup - I just think that passage is trying to say that dates AND cider is toeing the edge of the spirit... One or two to give a touch of sweetness is fine... 1/2 a cup of dates to an equal amount of tomato paste to make it super sweet is not fine... 
The thing I will say is that even tho people say they got things from the forum or a W30 endorsed source like the recipes page, the moderators and staff do our very level best to read every word written and make sure that everything is reflecting the spirit of the program... sometimes things slip through and that's just human nature but we definitely encourage people to really look at something they've found through the lens of how they think Melissa or one of us might see it and be honest with themselves about whether it's something better off left until after, even if they got it from here.... 

@LauraOC From my perspective as a Whole30 participant, the recipe in the book does use apple cider as a sweetener, so I had no issues with using dates to sweeten the ketchup when I made my own. To keep more in line with the Whole30 feel, I only used 2 dates to sweeten the ketchup rather than the 1/2 cup called for in the recipe I was following. I do remember that I used much less vinegar than the recipe in the book, but I think I added more at the end to come up with a flavor that I thought would be similar to the recipe in the book. I'm pretty happy with my ketchup; it is not overly sweet or vinegary, but has hints of both flavors and goes well with burgers and baked "fries".

I have never made any of the whole30 ketchup recipes since the only things I really like it on are definitely not whole30, but I know this one from Well Fed 2 is compliant despite having a couple of dates in it:  https://meljoulwan.com/2014/03/06/wf2-recipe-kickass-ketchup/
I definitely would avoid recipes that call for more than a couple of dates, but it has always been okay in the past to use a date or two or some other fruit for sweetening a sauce. Now, if by chance you find that when you have ketchup you find yourself craving other sweet things, you'd want to take a look at that, but that's more a matter of personal responsibility than of rules.

Hi @RevCKay - this falls under the "no recreating non-compliant foods with compliant ingredients". Oatmeal is a standard breakfast item that would not be permitted on Whole30. Recreating it with compliant ingredients is a last clinging to old habits for a lot of people and thus, it is ruled out. The recommendation is to eat protein, veggies and some fat at every meal. Fake oatmeal isn't compatible with the template. We really encourage people to embrace the new and step away from old habits and fallbacks and really get into going a different way. Steak, brocoli and avocado is a great breakfast. Chicken salad over spinach. Soups with shredded beef or chicken. Pulled pork and coleslaw. Try something new?

This doesn't specifically call out N'oatmeal, but it's the same as the article https://whole30.com/2011/10/sex-with-your-pants-on/
Additionally, it does not have protein in it, it can be fat and fruit heavy and you're not learning to eat a proper breakfast of protein, veggies and fat if you're trying to recreate oatmeal.  Whole30 is as much about changing your relationship with foods as it is changing the actual foods.  It's only 30 days... when you're done, if you want it as part of your food freedom, go for it!

Pretty much "Are you tired of bacon and eggs? Well switch things up!!! Here's a ton of recipes without eggs." 

I'm not a moderator but I would think the "noatmeal" recipes are a no go since they're SWYPO and technically not a template meal.  The plantains should be ok as part of a template meal though (or at least I hope so because I have been eating plantains cooked with coconut oil and cinnamon as part of my meals).

Okay ya... so I took a look at the blog post and there are also smoothie bowl recipes and something with 'paleo sour cream'.  Those are also no go's.  It's possible that the article got posted without the W30 team reading all 75 recipes... fair enough, they're only human.  Use what you know about Whole30 and question everything, even things that get posted that seem wrong... you know they're wrong
I've emailed HQ and let them know so hopefully they'll get back but it's Saturday and I know MH is at the GoPro games and I'm not sure the rest of the team works on the weekend (I hope not!).  Tell your group to apply the template, the rules and the recommendations to anything they find on the internet...