Welcome to stayglutenfree.com and my gluten free life. 

I think the “about me” page is one of the hardest things to write! It’s supposed to be all about me, but I am so much more interested in you! In fact, my favorite thing to do when I meet someone new is to hear their story. But when it comes to telling mine, I’m speechless. But here goes!

Who Am I?

I’m Paola Anna, it’s actually an italian form of Paula, but many people mistakingly pronounce it pay-ola. I am a wife, a mom and a lover of good food. I spent my childhood growing up cooking with my dad at his restaurant and baking with my mom at home.

I’m a girl from the midwest with a heart for all things food, fashion and fun. God gave me 2 absolutely amazing boys. They keep me busy and having fun. When I am not cooking or playing with them, I am a total “momtog”. I could follow my kids around with a camera all day long.

Cookbooks are my obsession, I think I own them all. They inspire me and challenge me to make gluten free versions of my very own. I absolutely love giving people advice and teaching them about how to live a gluten free life they will love. When I discovered the benefits of a gluten free diet, I literally could not keep my mouth shut.

Why gluten free?

I discovered my gluten sensitivity in my mid twenties, almost 20 years ago. At that time, I think I survived on bread, pasta and pizza. It was a complete culture shock to me and my body. But as I saw the benefits in my health, the new lifestyle became more and more tolerable. My journey wasn’t easy, but I am thankful I stayed the course.

Then I became a mom of boys with food allergies. That is when the real pressure began. As an adult, sometimes we eat to live, and even if something doesn’t taste great, we tolerate it. But kids, live and love to eat. Serving them food that didn’t taste right wasn’t going to be acceptable for me and their growing tummies. It became my passion to make food me and my boys love to eat.

But food allergies along with a gluten sensitivity made things a lot more difficult in more ways than one. My son (only one at the time) had to also be dairy, egg, corn and tree nut free. Fear consumed me especially after several calls to 911. You see, corn stimulated respiratory issues and there was also a walnut scare.

I had to learn how to make almost everything from scratch. It was hard at first, but now I love it.

What is stayglutenfree.com?

My inspiration for Stayglutenfree.com was dreamed up long ago, only it wasn’t supposed to be about gluten free food. For years I have loved coming up with new recipes and sharing them with friends. But living a life with food allergies has just taken me on a little bit of a detour. The dream is the same, the message is different.

But staying gluten free doesn’t require you to spend hours in your kitchen. What takes hours is the trial and error and the recipe testing. Thankfully I have done all of that for you. Here you will find recipes, things I keep in my pantry, places to eat out safely and access to my Stay Gluten Free Community {it’s FREE, click here to join} that is filled with others just like you.

I created this site to be our go-to resource for all things gluten free. Gluten free living keeps changing so much since when I first began my journey and I am confident it will continue to change for the better. Let’s stay the course together.

How to get started and connected?

There are many ways to get connected. You can subscribe and have recipes sent right to your inbox {it’s FREE click here now}. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

I truly hope Stayglutenfree.com and our community will help you on your gluten free journey. It gives me great pleasure to know that I am helping you. I am thankful to have such an opportunity to do so.

Feel free to read my privacy policy and disclosure.