Freezer...

Defrosting my freezer is not something I think about and apparently the heavens were tired of waiting for me to make time. My freezer and it's contents were partially thawed a day before we scheduled to go out of town. Thankfully, we have wonderful people in our lives and were able to put our, still frozen, items into someone else's deep freezer. I'm a part of a list-serve where people write in to get insight on green and frugal living - today someone posted, in a panic about the same thing. I responded and felt pretty good about what I shared so I thought, maybe my experiences and knowledge about this are good and should be passed along. This is what I told her: 

We're in the middle of cleaning up from our own issue and we were luck enough to have someone allow us to put all the food that wasn't affected in THEIR freezer and we are taking this opportunity to defrost and clean out the freezer (this should be done about once each year to keep the freezer running at it's best). Take this, perhaps, as an opportunity to help your expensive piece of equipment run better.
Of the foods that I keep in my freezer, I am only comfortable re-freezing a few things. Hot dogs can live forever so re-freeze away); you can follow that same line with most sausages (I'd be cautious with Italian Sausage unless it's shrink sealed but polish, brats, smoked, etc. should be OK - bacon, too). Ham has been processed in a way that it's generally OK to re-freeze that, too. Most of the time ribs are sealed pretty well so you should be OK re-freezing them but not for too much longer - the unprocessed meat has a way of becoming freezer-burned more quickly. Ground Beef and Chicken should be cooked.
Ground beef can be cooked into crumbles and you've got a quick addition to meals on the ready; you can also form beef into patties for burgers. Chicken is not a meat I ever re-freeze as it's pretty sensitive to bacteria - all that juice! I've got a few ideas on how to use up that chicken without wasting it. My best suggestion is that you prepare the dangerous foods in some way and freeze them. If you don't already, try making some recipes that are meant to be frozen (pre baked) and then you've got some stand-by options. I've made soups, stews and casseroles in soft sided aluminum pans (which we re-use). If you're already familiar, ignore this part but if not, this may help: Take baked mosticholi (sp) for example: make the dish up to the point of baking it - cook the pasta and Italian sausage (optional), toss with tomato sauce and top with sliced or shredded cheese. Cover with plastic wrap (I cover the entire container, front to back and side to side) and then with tin foil (we use large rolls from Costco and so far, they've lasted for the past 2 or 3 years). Write either on the foil with Sharpie's  or on a piece of paper the name of the dish and then the cooking directions (Thaw. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. REMOVE PLASTIC WRAP. Bake, covered (lid or foil), for 45-50 minutes. Remove cover and brown cheese for another 10-15 minutes). You can do this with, pretty much, any casserole.
You said there was a lot of chicken so here are a few more chicken-specific ideas. BBQ Pulled Chicken (cooked in crock-pot - since it's summer), White Chicken Chili, Chicken Noodle Soup, Chicken Enchiladas, Macaroni & Cheese with Chicken and Tomatoes (or any other combination you can come up with), Chicken Lasagna, Chicken Parmesan (layer like a lasagna), Chicken Noodle Casserole, Chicken Tetrizzini (sp), etc. (sorry, I'm running out of ideas without going through my cookbooks).
I don't know how you organize your freezer but from what you said (lots of chicken thawed / stuff on top was the most affected) it sounded like you may have been doing this. You should NEVER, put meat above veggies. Think of it this way, if you're freezer were to thaw the way it did, and it all got drippy and juicy, could anything that can't be consumed raw (chicken, red meat, etc.) drip onto anything that you can just grab, thaw and go with? I keep my veggies on top (because they're sealed from the manufacturer), fruits on the next shelf (I buy berries, etc. in bulk and break them down into bags more welcome in my kitchen freezer), bread products and etc. (homemade cookies, pastries, etc.) on the next shelf and then the last two shelves are for meat - ham, bacon, hot doges, sausage on the top shelf and red meat and chicken on the bottom. On the door, I have canned jams, chunk cheese and pesto. I can't say that my way is the only way but I know it's sanitary.
One last thought (I hope I'm not being pushy or know-it-all-y, I'm just trying to share from my experiences) another restaurant point is that you should always use the concept of FIFO (First In First Out). Every time you put a new batch of anything in the freezer, make sure that you put the new thingsbehind the things that are already in there. This helps alleviate freezer burn, mystery meat and the popular when did I buy that?!?

I read my response to Bill (who has WAY MORE restaurant experience than I) and the only thing he added was that fish and chicken always go below ground beef (if you've got this type of room) because you can rinse the chicken and fish off and the ground beef can't be rinsed. Never thought of that so I learned something, too!

I hope this helps someone because let's face it...we all need a little helps sometimes.