How to make slow cooker loaded potato soup

It's a big, bad world out there.  Well, okay, sometimes it just feels like that.  Whether it's a tough day at work or feeling frazzled from a day raising kids, sometimes we need a place to retreat to.  Or a recipe.  This is one such dish, and honestly, it's like a big creamy, cheesy, potato-y hug.  With bacon, for anyone who needs hugging that little bit more.

Definitely use fresh potato if you've got time to dice it, but frozen is fine.  If you want to go down a chowder-ish route, then add some frozen or fresh sweet corn kernels around 30 minutes before the end of cooking time.  They need little heat, so you don't need to add them any earlier than this. 

32 oz bag frozen hash browns/2 lbs fresh potatoes, diced
3 oz bacon bits
32 oz/700 ml chicken broth (or stock)
Can of cream of chicken soup
Salt and pepper to taste
200g/1 cup/block of cream cheese, cubed
1 onion, chopped
Shredded cheese for topping

1.  Place the potatoes into your slow cooker and pour over half of the bacon bits, the broth and the chicken soup, season lightly then set to cook on low for 8 hours.

2.  After 7 hours cooking time has gone by, add the cream cheese and onion, then stir before cooking for a further hour, stirring occasionally to mix in the cream cheese thoroughly.  

3.  At the end of the cooking time, check the seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed, then sprinkle a handful of cheese over the top, along with the remaining bacon and serve.

A country-style loaf of bread, some crisp celery, and a green salad would make fabulous accompaniments to this delicious soup.  You can ring some changes by experimenting with flavoured soft cheese, or adding cubed blue cheese instead.  It freezes well, so keep a portion on standby in the freezer just in case you ever feel in need of the kind of hug that only slow cooker loaded potato soup can deliver.  Or, you know, you just feel hungry.