Sourdough Pancakes

I am not a fancy cook. I have no clue how to "plate" anything and any time I see a recipe I immediately start adjusting its ingredients in ways that reduce its cost. I do like to cook though and I seem to do a lot of it. This last week there was a huge hole in my life because I cooked very little and ate nothing (I was on a juice fast and lost 10 pounds). My days tend to be filled with cooking eating and cleaning up afterward. This week I plan on making some of the recipes from NPRs "How Low Can You Go" series and on Friday I'm making Mags' bacon apple pizza. Rather than trying to ignore food I am going to try really hard to eat reasonable amounts of really good food. Good but cheap. (I did the whole week's shopping for less than $50.) Then I'll blog about it.

Here's how I broke my fast. I love these and have been looking forward to them for a week. They are thicker and fluffier than most of my pancakes and they seem to be easier to cook all the way through but you can't decide to make them on the spur of the moment. They require a bit of planning ahead. You must forgive me for not taking pictures. I was a little eager to actually eat my breakfast.

Starter
Ingredients:
1 tsp yeast
2 cups white flour
2 tblsp sugar
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 a peeled onion

Mix everything together and put into a large glass jar or similar container. Don't chop the onion. Just drop it in there. If you don't like sourdough then leave the onion out. It adds the sourdough flavor. Mags taught me that. Poke some holes in the lid or cover with a clean cloth held on with a rubber band and forget about it for a couple of days. You can then fish the onion out and throw it away.
The night before you want pancakes
Mix together the following in a bowl and cover with a cloth. Leave at room temperature overnight.
1 cup of starter
2 cups of milk
2 cups white flour (you can use some whole wheat if you like)
1 tsp salt

To make the cakes
Remove one cup of the mixture you made the night before and stir it back into the starter.
Add this to the remaining mixture:

2 eggs
3 tblsp oil
2 tsp baking soda
2 tblsp sugar

Mix. The texture will be sort of like really soggy bread dough. Scoop big spoonfuls onto a hot griddle and cook like you would regular pancakes. Serve with butter and syrup.