Blessings (berakhot) are the most basic form of Jewish prayer. You can recognize them because they begin with the word Baruch [Blessed]. Ideally, we say a blessing before every mitzvah, before every bite we eat, and before many other life events. The Gemara says that every Jew should try to say 100 blessings a day.
There are three kinds of stand-alone blessings:
1. Blessings we recite before or when we experience a pleasure of creation. For example, we say blessings before eating food, to acknowledge that the food comes from God:
Example: Blessing before eating bread:
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam, hamotzi lechem min ha’aretz.
Blessed are You Adonai, our God, Ruler of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.
2. Blessings we recite before performing a mitzvah:
Example: Blessing for putting a mezuzah on a doorpost of a Jewish home:
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav, vitzivanu likboa mezuzah.
Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Ruler of the Universe, who sanctifies us with mitzvot and commands us to affix a mezuzah.
3. Blessings we recite at remarkable times and events:
Baruch Dayan ha’emet.
Blessed is the true Judge.
There are many, many Jewish blessings to be said for every kind of food, for many mitzvot, and for many different events and experiences. To learn more blessings, there is a list of blessings of various sorts in the Reform Judaism website.
If you listen carefully in the daily and Shabbat worship services, those are also made up of blessings: there are blessings before and after the Shema, and the Amidah is a series of blessings, stacked up like the sacrifices on the Temple altar of old.
If you wonder why Jews make blessings, read this: Why Bless?
If you recite Jewish blessings, when and why do you do so?