Recruit any help you can. Even small children can learn how to set a table. Older kids are great at salad. Get into a routine. Some things hold better than others, so it doesn't matter when you get them done.
Starches generally can stand a little sitting around.
Once they're cooked, rice, potatoes, couscous, beans other grains can be kept hot in a pot with a lid until you're ready to dish it up. Pasta is a bit more problematic. Fresh pasta does not hold well. You should try to cook it at the last minute and serve it immediately. Other types of pasta can be drained and held for a little while, but you must add a bit of the cooking water or oil or other liquid to keep it from clumping together into a giant mass to pry apart later.