Crockpot Baked Potato Soup

Serves 10 (If I'm making this for just my family and I'm not freezing part of it I only do half. A full recipe makes a lot and fills my crock pot to the very top and even with just half we have leftovers for lunch the next day.)

5 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced in 1 to 2 inch chunks
1 teeny onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper
2 qts chicken broth
2 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese (add at end)
crumbled bacon
green onion
shredded cheese
chives

Use a 6 quart or larger slow cooker. Peel and dice the potatoes, and put them into the stoneware. Add onion and garlic. Sprinkle in the seasonings, and pour in the broth. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. The potatoes should be fork tender. Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes in the soup or if you want a smooth soup use a hand-held immersible blender. After smashing the potatoes, crumble in both packages of cream cheese, and put the lid back on. Cook on high for about 30 minutes, or until the cream cheese is completely melted. Stir a few times during the 30 minutes.
Garnish with bacon, onion, chives, cheese, sour cream.
I usually have all the garnishments out on the table and let everyone fix their own.
This is one of those recipes that is flexible with your ingredients. If I don't have any fresh garlic I just throw in some garlic powder if I think about it and I have made it without the onion and loved it just as much. This is one of my go to winter recipes because I always have the ingredients on hand.
The red pepper in this gives the soup that little kick of warm without it being spicy hot.

**Side note I just made this for Lucie's birthday party and the full recipe fed 11 adults and there were 6 children at the party. I didn't see how much or how little they ate and it was the perfect amount.