The only way I broke Ripley from jumping on the counters was to spray him with water every time I caught him. It took a long time to sink in, that or he got too old to jump that high.

As for the meat, I've always heard you shouldn't thaw it at room temp. Maybe putting in the fridge to thaw all day will take care of your problem and it's safer.

Ripley was so bad into everything that for about a year I wore a small water bottle on my belt. It was the only way to make him understand. He eventually got to the point where I only had to shake it to make him behave.