Slow-cooker Mashed Potatoes

From Quick Cooking (Dec. 2000), page 48.

Prep: 5 min. / Cook: 2-4 hours
Yield: 8-10 servings

1 pkg. (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
6 cups warm mashed potatoes (prepared without butter or milk)

In a bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, butter, salad dressing, and parsley; stir in potatoes.

Transfer to slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours.

Nutrition Facts:
1 serving (3/4 cup) = 199 calories, 10 g fat (6 g saturated fat), 30 mg cholesterol, 671 mg sodium, 22 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 3 g protein

Notes:
- I'm not sure what was with my potatoes, but they were extremely dry and I ended up adding milk to keep them from scorching.  My mom didn't have this problem when she made the potatoes, so perhaps it's my crock pot, which we already know is notorious for cooking things too quickly.
- I think I used neufchatel cheese (less fat than cream cheese) and light sour cream, which would help out a bit when it comes to the amounts of fat and cholesterol.  You could take things even further by replacing the sour cream with fat-free sour cream or plain Greek yogurt (I'm really into that right now).
- Because I didn't want so strong of a ranch flavor in the potatoes (this was for Thanksgiving), I probably only used about 1 Tbs. of ranch seasoning.  It was subtle, but I liked it.  Play around with the amounts depending on your taste--the less you use, the lower the sodium content will be.