I have five sisters and four brothers, so meals were always kind of messy. My mom and dad (they split the cooking) would frequently just plonk it all in the middle of our table and we'd serve ourselves. We didn't eat horribly, although vegetables were frequently butter-covered in our house, but I did learn to eat FAST. Because if you didn't eat fast, you didn't eat AT ALL. And now I still eat rather quickly, to the point where I sometimes eat too much because I don't give my body time to catch up and tell me that I'm full.
It was the worst when my sister and I were both on the school cross-country team and my three oldest brothers were all on the hockey team. I swear, we would just come home from practice and hose down all the food. It's a wonder my parents could afford us.
Haha, I know how that works - My father and I both went to boarding schools, him from the age of 7 (!?) and me through high school. We were both fairly quick eaters to start with, but dear god boarding school can screw up your eating habits - open cafeteria with TONS of food and a grand total of 15 minutes to get through a 10 minute line and eat. Screwed with my portion control and my hunger management for life. He just eats fast - the man bikes 20 or runs 5 miles a day, he's a machine.
I grew up in a family that loves buffet style eating...so they felt they were getting their money's worth I guess. They also rave about the family biscuits, which were made for nearly every meal. If not biscuits, there HAD to be some kind of bread, garlic toast or brown and serve rolls would suffice. We didn't have desserts after every meal though. We kinda had them all day long. Grandma was ALWAYS making cakes, she'd even taken cake decorating classes. Mom loved making her PB fudge and potato candy, and my aunt loved her cobblers. Come to think of it, grandma found plenty of time for cobblers too...as well as pies. And the saying in our house, if you don't clean your plate, it will rain and you won't be able to play outside. I wonder who came up with that stupid saying.
... I did learn to eat FAST. Because if you didn't eat fast, you didn't eat AT ALL. And now I still eat rather quickly, to the point where I sometimes eat too much because I don't give my body time to catch up and tell me that I'm full.
We have a large family and I see that with my children. They're contemplating seconds while snarfing their firsts.
Everything was family style when I was growing up, and I still do it that way today. Mom enforced that you at least "try" everything on the table, be it a new veggie or a different way to prepare the meat. I do that as well. They don't have to eat it, but they do have to try it. As a result, DS likes brussel sprouts and asparagus, and DD knows for sure that she hates them! I do believe mom always tried to have a balanced meal on the table with meat/veggie (or 2)/some type of side dish...potato, rice, etc. We didn't eat salads daily like I do now, we typically had them with pasta dishes and with steak, so maybe twice a week or so.
One portion size I KNOW I've messed up for my kiddos is chicken breasts! When the kids were little I started cutting the boneless/skinless chicken breasts in half the flat way so that each chicken breast made two smaller chicken cutlets. The kids couldn't eat a whole one if left in one piece, and they always turned out more juicy that way. Now the kids are both teens and I still cut them that way......and they still only eat one (by choice). When we go out to eat and anyone orders chicken, they're stunned by how bit it is!
I never had dessert as a child but once I was old enough to go out to eat by myself, I had dessert all the time. Nowadays, I more or less have a piece of 65% dark chocolate for dessert.
We have a large family and I see that with my children. They're contemplating seconds while snarfing their firsts. 
