Soup for a Dreary Day

It's another rainy, windy, muddy, dreary day here - a really bad day for farming but a good day for soup in the crock pot. My Aunt Jan makes really good potato soup, and I use her recipe too. This recipe came from someone here and is a creamier one that uses frozen hash browns so eliminates the boiling the potatoes step. I don't make this often since it has to have tons of calories! I've got ingredients in the bread machine for warm honey wheat bread to go with the soup tonight.

I cut the recipe in half so this amount makes one crock pot full.

POTATO SOUP

2 cans (12 oz.) evaporated milk
2 cans cream of chicken soup
4 strips crumbled cooked bacon
1 c. cubed ham
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/8 c. onion flakes
1 T. parsley flakes
1/4 c. butter (half a stick)
garlic salt
2 c. water
1 lb. frozen, chunky hash browns, thawed (1/2 pkg.)

Whisk soup and evaporated milk in a crock pot. Add bacon (with grease), ham, bouillon cubes, onion flakes, parsley, garlic salt & butter. Cook in crock pot on Low for about 4 hours.

* I cook my bacon in the microwave on paper towels so I don't add bacon grease, I use an 8 oz. pkg. of diced ham (smaller than cubed) and I use garlic powder instead of garlic salt.