Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup

This recipe is courtesy of "A year of Slow Cooking" Blog that I've added to my blog friends. It has TONS of recipes for crock pots. I love cooking with my crock pot because I know that most things I cook in there will not be over-cooked, an often mistake for me because I worry things will be under-cooked so I over cook them..

Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup
Ingredients:
*5 lbs potatoes, peeled and diced in 1-2 inch chunks
*1 onion, diced
*4 cloves garlic, minced
*1 tsp seasoned salt
*1/2 tsp black pepper
*1/2 tsp red pepper
*2 quarts chicken broth
*2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese (to add at the end)
*Optional garnishes: crumbled bacon, green onions, shredded cheddar cheese, etc.

Directions:
Use a 6-quart or larger slow cooker.
Place peeled, diced potatoes into the stoneware.
Add onion and garlic.
Sprinkle in seasonings.
Pour in broth.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.
After this time the potatoes should be fork-tender.
(optional): Mash the potatoes. (for creamy smooth soup)
Crumble in both packages of cream cheese, put the lid back on.
Cook on high for about 30 more mins or until the cream cheese is completely melted.
Stir a few times during this 30 mins.
Then serve will optional garnishes.

**So, I added the ingredients and set to cook and I'm not sure if it was the garlic or pepper but it didn't smell wonderful as it was cooking so I was skeptical. I also think it would be easier to soften or melt the cream cheese prior to adding it to the mixture because mine never fully melted and there was always chunks of cream cheese even after microwaving leftovers. Other than that it turned out to be a warm, yummy soup with a kick. I didn't have a 1/2 tsp measurement so I winged it and think I added too much red and black pepper making it spicy, but it was still yummy!