Potato Soup

As the weather becomes cool and crisp, I love opening my windows and getting out the slow cooker to make some warm and comforting meals. I decided to get creative and used what I had on hand to create this recipe. I don't normally post my own creations, but we thought the soup turned out really well, and was very simple to make. We enjoyed it with a crisp green salad and some warm buttery dinner rolls. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

5 lbs red potatoes, cut into eighths
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 shredded carrots
2 chopped leeks
1 soup can of water
10 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
milk to taste (about 1 cup)
salt
freshly ground pepper

Optional for topping:
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream or Greek yogurt
additional diced bacon

Directions:

• Place potatoes, broth, cream of chicken soup, carrots, leeks, and water in crock pot.
• Cook on low heat 6-8 hrs or high heat 3-4 hours.
• Use a potato masher, or any kitchen utensil that will work, to mash some of the potatoes up.
  
• Stir in milk until soup reaches desired consistency. We like our potato soup quite thick, so I only added about 3/4 cup milk.
• Add bacon.
• Add salt and pepper to taste. (I used lots of black pepper!)
• Replace lid on slow cooker and allow soup to heat up for about 10 more minutes.
  
• Place soup in serving bowls and top with toppings of choice.