I recall being able to make it so that when i brought up the pie menu, gameplay would be paused. However, I don't see this in any of the options. Am I mistaken or is there a way to enable pause during the pie menu?

This ties up with my post above where I can't beat the boss because while giving food I get killed. Very frustrating and made me give up until I find an answer.

I agree, I give up and stop playing because I don´t have time to eat and the clicking always my partner stop acting...frustating

According to the manual, the pause key is F12.