I have a comment and a question.

First my question: If I wanted to a sourdough starter to add flavor and leaven the bread, how much would you suggest that I use? Would I be able to use only the starter, or would a little yeast also be recommended?

Regarding the failure of breads to puff, I have found that the only time that I have had a problem getting them to puff is due to problems with the initial shaping. Normally the process I use is to flatten each dough piece slightly, pull the edges up and join in the center (must be well sealed!), flip them over and roll them around to form a tight round ball (similar to shaping a hard roll). I flatten them slightly and let them rest while I shape all of the others. When I go to roll them out, I dust the surface liberally with flour, and flip them a couple of times during rolling. I find that it is essentially that you do not get any sticking or creases during the rolling process or they will not puff completely. I bake them, 3 at a time, seam side down, on a stone that has been preheated for at least 45 min. Normally they will fully inflate in about 2-3 minutes. The one time that I had a failure to puff was when one of my pitas stuck to the work surface. In that case only part of the pita puffed, and the part that didn't looked like it had a blow out.

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