About

Hi there! Welcome to Bites of Wellness

I’m Sam – a long time foodie turned health enthusiast that is passionate about helping you get dinner on the table fast, so that you can spend more time doing the things you love!

Samantha Rowland standing in front of her kitchen on set for her youtube channel.

Are you a busy mom that is struggling to get good-for-you meals on the table quickly? Do you feel like you are constantly battling against getting dinner on the table and throwing in the towel and ordering pizza or Door Dash again for the 3rd night in a row? Or perhaps you love cooking but recently your schedule has become busy and you aren’t finding the time to make your old favorite recipes.

Well friend, I’m here to tell you that you are in the right place and that as your GF BFF, I’ve got your back!

Hi there, I’m Sam the owner, creator, and photographer for Bites of Wellness. I have spent the past 10 years working with busy women, helping them achieve their health and fitness goals through personal training, health coaching, and as the owner of a healthy catering company.

Samantha prepping meals at commercial kitchen for healthy dish catering company.
Meals prepped for clients of healthy dish catering company.
Samantha in front of first fridge for Healthy Dish Catering Company.

One thing I learned early on when working with busy women is that it’s not a lack of trying, it’s typically a lack of time that keeps them from preparing meals in line with their goals. Let’s be honest, it can be really tough to make yourself a separate meal when all your kids want is mac and cheese and chicken nuggets for dinner every night. I’ve got you covered though, with tips on how to prep your freezer so that you always have something healthy on hand!

You already have enough on your plate, finding recipes that work for your family’s busy lifestyle should not be another to-do task on your weekly list. I get it. I want you to have a trusted resource that you can go to when you need quick and healthy meals.

All the recipes here on Bites of Wellness are gluten free, but I promise you won’t know it. Even if you don’t follow a gluten free lifestyle, you will likely have all the ingredients you need on hand. I try my best to provide substitutes so that no matter what diet you may be following (whether for aesthetics or food sensitivities or allergies), the recipe will still work for you.

What you can expect here

If you are looking for:

  • Easy everyday meals ready in 20 minutes or less using easy to find ingredients
  • Gluten free recipes that don’t taste like it
  • Shortcuts and ideas on how to make recipes even quicker (because sometimes you don’t even have 20 minutes)
  • Budget friendly cooking tips on how to make your own sauces, dressings and spice blends so that you can spend your money on things that are more fun (like plants or skincare)
  • Time saving tips with weekly meal plans and make ahead meal ideas

One thing you won’t find here is overly complicated recipe with hard to find ingredients or a shopping list that makes you want to cry.

Quick Everyday Meals

Whether you want ideas on how to use the air fryer to make meals quicker (like Air Fryer Grilled Chicken Tenders or Air Fryer Teriyaki Salmon) or want to find a way to make that rotisserie chicken into something more exciting than chicken salad, I’ve got you covered.

With recipes like Mediterranean Chicken and Rice or Chicken Shawarma Rice, you will see that I take a whole new approach on how to use leftovers. In fact, that is one of my secrets to quick and easy meals.

Another shortcut you will see often in my recipes is using quick cooking proteins like diced chicken, shrimp, salmon and even chickpeas or black beans. Want to see this in action?

Check out Buffalo Chicken Rice Bowls, Honey Sriracha Shrimp (serve with Instant Pot Jasmine Rice) or Pecan Crusted Salmon that you can serve with quinoa or air fryer sweet potatoes all in under 20 minutes.

Budget Tips and Tricks

I find that many of the better-for-you sauces and dressings often come with a huge price tag. $6-7 for a bottle of dressing is just not my vibe. Instead, I have perfected how to make delicious, flavorful dressing at home for a fraction of the price. Some of my favorites are Tahini Ranch, Creamy Dill, Homemade French Dressing and Honey Mustard.

I also think that having a few sauces you can make with pantry staples will keep your meals interesting, even if they are just chicken and rice or black beans and quinoa. Sauces like buffalo sauce, honey chipotle sauce or homemade sweet and sour sauce.

Another great way to save money on your weekly meals is to make more meatless meals! I have a special place in my heart for beans and legumes and cook with them often! Some of my favorites are recipes like White Bean Pasta Sauce, Black Bean Broccoli Tacos or Teriyaki Chickpeas.  Check out my vegan recipes for more meatless meals.

A little (more) about me

I currently live in Birmingham, AL but long to move back to the East Coast. I’m a beach girl at heart. One of my favorite ways to spend time is finding new hiking trails with Dave (my partner) and our dog Maddy. She’s seriously the best! We also have 2 cats – Tanna and Tucker and they keep us on our toes for sure (the cuter they are, the naughtier they are).

I have been obsessed with cooking since I was 6 years old. I remember when I was a kid my mom bought me a teeny tiny TV for my room so I could watch my cooking shows that no one else in the family wanted to watch. Through college I always had Ina Garten, Rachel Ray and Bobby Flay on in the background while I was studying. When I tell you I was obsessed, it was a lifestyle.

It’s no wonder that I love food so much. I also became very interested in fitness and more healthy habits right out of college after I started my first corporate job (I was a CPA in my past life) and worked extremely late hours (often till 1-2am during busy season). I didn’t love the way my body felt and vowed to find healthier habits so that I could still thrive during that very busy season in my life.

Well my passion for fitness took off, I became a personal trainer, a nutrition coach and Dave and I quit our corporate jobs to open a gym right outside of Austin, Texas (Hey to my Lakeway Burn ladies, love you so much). It was the BEST experience of my life and I had so much fun helping to transform so many women’s lives and their idea of what health and wellness looked like.

Samantha in front of weights at her new gym

Even after leaving the gym, I continued to work with busy women while working as a Nationally Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, where I honed in on ways to simplify cooking for new and experienced cooks alike.

If you meet me in real life, you will probably see me in leggings, a sweatshirt (in the winter) or a workout tank (in the summer) with my hair up in a high pony tail with a mason jar full of water. I’m kind of a nerd and pretty introverted but I love talking about gardening, mindset and of course food!

Contact me

If you love what you find on the website, follow me on social for even more fun!

Find me on Instagram, Facebook TikTok, YouTube or Pinterest

Sam in 2015 in her moms kitchen preparing to shoot youtube videos

Ask specific questions by leaving a comment on one of my recipes. I personally respond to each one!

Don’t be shy, I promise hearing from you really makes my day! It’s pretty lonely being a blogger. In fact our conversation will likely be the highlight of my day that I bring up to Dave on our nighttime walks through the neighborhood.

Subscribe to Bites of Wellness

If you know that you need healthy quick and easy recipes in your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter. I promise I will never spam you or send you anything that isn’t valuable. I send a weekly Friday newsletter with 5 recipe ideas so that you always have new ideas for what to make the family for the week.

What next?

Work With Me

If you are interested in working with me for recipe development, food photography or sponsored posts please see my Work with Me page for more details.

Professional Bio

Samantha Rowland is a professional blogger, photographer and recipe developer and lover of food. She is passionate about helping busy women get healthy meals on the table fast. Sam started Bitesofwellness.com in 2014 (formerly PancakeWarriors.com) as a way to share her healthy, high protein recipes and kitchen creations. That passion morphed to helping busy women when Sam worked as a trainer and later opened her own gym focused exclusively on women. Sam currently lives in Birmingham, AL (but yearns to be on the East Coast) and can often be found walking her dog Maddy with her partner Dave or playing in her garden.

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